After World War II, Sol Levy, a Scout and an APO alumnus, went to the Philippines. At a conference, Levy shared the idea of a Scouting-based fraternity and left APO publications with the Filipinos in attendance, among them Dr. Librado I. Ureta. Starting in 1947, Dr. Ureta organized APO at Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines where he was a graduate student. The response from fellow Eagle Scouts was good.



     By 1950, when Dean Arno Nowotny (Alpha Rho Chapter) was President, and APO already had more than 200 chapters in the U.S., the Filipinos were ready for official recognition by the school administration. On March 2, 1950, in Room 214 of the Nicanor Reyes Sr. Memorial Hall, the first organization of APO outside the U.S. was established by Dr. Ureta’s group of over 20 Scouts and advisors. Far Eastern University became Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega of the Republic of the Philippines

(APO-Phillippines). Later in the same year, with the participation of other Scouts in Manila, including those from the nearby National University (named Beta Chapter on March 24, 1951), the Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity became a national organization and Dr. Ureta became the first President. On September 13, 1953, APOPhilippines held its first National Convention in Manila. A Philippine college or university may become an APO chapter on the petition of at least 15 students (all-male or all-female) of the school. More than 255 fraternity charters and 104 sorority charters have been granted. Whichever organization by gender is established on campus first, the Fraternity brothers and Sorority sisters share the same chapter name. In the past, sisters belonged to sororities of different names. Women were first admitted into the APO ranks on September 17, 1968, when the first sorority chapter was given official recognition. On December 18, 1971, Alpha Phi Omega Auxiliary Sorority took legal form (“auxiliary” was later dropped).



       On October 13, 1976, the APO Executive Board started to grant recognition to alumni associations on the petition of 15 Life Members from the Fraternity or Sorority. To date, 92 alumni associations based on

location, region, profession, or chapter are official APO service resources throughout the Philippine archipelago and abroad. Among countries with active alumni groups are: Australia, England, Japan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In North America, local chapters may contact these Filipino alumni associations in British Columbia, New York, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco Bay area (two associations), Houston, Montreal, San Diego, Toronto, Seattle, Winnipeg and Guam. Many of these alumni associations are members of the Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Council of North America.
 

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        The National Office in the Philippines is located at the Suite 3A Residencia Braganza, 270 Ermin Garcia Street, Cubao, Quezan City, Phillippines, phone number +011 632 439-7640. While APO through the years has acquired an identity separate from the BSA, and native culture has influenced the biggest fraternity and sorority in the Southeast Asian country, the Philippine Alpha Phi Omega always adheres to Dr. Horton’s Cardinal Principles of Leadership, Friendship and Service. If there is one difference, it is that the handclasp is based not on the original APO member Thane S. Cooley’s, but on the Boy Scout handshake.