Another champion in London

On May 4, the English Speaking Union-Philippines chapter or ESU-Phil met over lunch as hosted by Ambassador Cesar Bautista. The board session’s agenda also included meeting (the first time for some of us) and sending off our student representative to the 2011 International Public Speaking Competition in London.

On Feb. 26, the UP Debate Society with its president Alistair Zosa had organized the event that led to the selection of the Philippine delegate to the IPSC. Around 40 participants were trimmed down to 24 and further reduced to six finalists. The final round was judged by ESU-Phil chair Ambassador Bautista, ESU-Phil president and AdMU Humanities dean Dr. Marlu Vilches, former ESU-Phil president and UP Creative Writing Institute director Butch Dalisay, and ESU-Phil board member Atty. Katrina Legarda.

The six finalists, all 18 years old and below, spoke for five minutes on this year’s theme of “Words are not enough” — as mandated by ESU International. Chosen for second place (as a back-up entrant) was Elfermin Mallari, a Business Administration senior in UP Diliman, while gaining first place was Germaine Chuabio, a sophomore in Communication Arts / Accountancy in De la Salle University.

We found Germaine to be a bright-faced young lady who fairly brimmed with confidence whenever she spoke. She knew that it would be quite a challenge to replicate what a couple of her predecessors had accomplished. Patricia Evangelista of UP Diliman had won the international competition in 2004, in only our third try, a feat paralleled in 2008 by Gian Karlo Dapul of Philippine Science High School.

The competition has grown more intense through the years, per the reports we’re privileged to receive regularly by e-mail from our invaluable lady in London, Madame Loline Reed. 

This year, the contestants had ballooned to a total of 81, representing 49 countries. Last year the judging had been passed on to a set of “peers” — meaning equally young people, instead of the former groups of mature professionals from the BBC and academe. Some member-countries were known to have their student-entrants coached by professional speakers and writers. In brief, the competition has become so much stiffer.

Germaine knew what was in store for her, but she was of calm demeanor when she met with the rest of us ESU-Phil officers — which included British Amb. Stephen Lillie, Pilipinas Shell’s Ed Chua (who annually sees to the sponsorship of our contestant’s travel fare), author and Far Eastern University chair Dr. Lourdes Montinola, author-editor Erlinda Panlilio, and this writer. We asked her to deliver her prepared piece that had won her the slot. It was already on its nth draft revision, with Butch Dalisay in Italy and Loline in London already having sent their suggestions for improvement. 

Titled “A Mother’s Love,” Germaine’s speech was about the unique relationship that went beyond words between her mother and her twin sister, a special child. It was heartwarming, albeit a few of us thought that despite its serious focus, it could still do with an injection of humor.

Germaine at the send-off tendered by ESU-Phil officers, from left: Krip Yuson, Erlinda Panlilio, Amb. Cesar Bautista, Dr. Marlu Vilches, Amb. Stephen Lillie, Dr. Lourdes Montinola, and Ed Chua

Amb. Lillie commented that a “tricycle” in the Philippine context, as mentioned in Germaine’s speech, would have to be explained to a London audience. Other inputs were on the need for more imagery and metaphors, if only to set fire to the mental screens of judges who might be wearying of hearing motherhood statements and generalities. Germaine promised to further enhance her speech. And we wished her the best of luck.

The 30th edition of the IPSC was held on May 26-27 at Dartmouth House, the ESU headquarters in London, with the Finals held at the HSBC. Germaine traveled to the UK with her parents, Albert and Katherine. True to form, Loline managed to get them seats all the way through to the Finals! Oops, that’s getting ahead of the story. So here’s Loline’s report:

“Germaine was included in the Semi-Finals when 24 out of 81 were chosen to compete once more. This time, the topic was given to each of the Semi-Finalists 15 minutes before the Semis began. There were 12 in Germaine’s Heat and 12 in the other Heat. From those two Heat groups, 3 were selected from each group. Philippines, India and Malta won in Germaine’s group while Ghana, South Korea and China emerged as winners from the other group.

“Germaine’s topic was: ‘The Best Things in Life are Free.’ She spoke emotionally about her sister Gillian and concluded with the dramatic ending, ‘It could have been me.’ There were no questions from the audience.

“... Germaine’s Mum and Dad were so happy that their daughter was in the Finals. You can just imagine how we three felt... it was wonderful indeed!”

“All the Finalists were very good. But only 3 emerged as the Winners.

“International Champion — Jeon Wook Kang from South Korea, who spoke on ‘Umm.... I can’t teach?’ He spoke about having 11 eminent Teachers that his family produced through generations.... He has a very engaging personality, very articulate, with a good voice.... I think he deserved the title of International IPSC Champion.

“2nd and runner-up was Sahil Sanjay Bhattad of India. Sahil spoke on ‘Out of Focus.’ ... He had a serious speech but also included a few light-hearted anecdotes about his country’s past. The audience liked his speech. It made us all think. I can imagine Sahil as a future Diplomat and Lawyer for his Country.

“Most Popular Speaker and 3rd prize went to Caleb Yaw Kudah of Ghana. He spoke on ‘For the Love of Country.’ ...Caleb is still in High School. ...He spoke of the beauty of his country and how his countrymen and women go overseas, especially to the UK, to find jobs but would eventually return home to Ghana, for love of Country. For a young man of 17, he has a very powerful message.... At the end of his speech, his peers all got up and gave him a standing ovation. Most amazing, as no one in the history of the IPSC had done that before....

“The girls from the Philippines, Malta and China were all deserving Finalists but I think the boys were all deserving Winners....

“Germaine did an excellent job of becoming a Finalist — six out of 81 Participants from 49 countries. It was a job well done. I told her and her parents that as far as I am concerned, she is my number one!

“Congratulations, indeed, to Germaine Chuabio for making us all proud to be a Filipino!! Please give her all the praise she deserves when she arrives... Germaine, being in the Finals, achieved honor for herself and for ESU Philippines and her country. She was our Champion.”

We here all agree with Loline’s verdict, that Germaine’s superlative conduct at the 2011 IPSC was feat enough. We share in the pride and honor of having yet another Filipino student place in the Finals of so tough an international competition.

As Erlinda Panlilio wrote, “Considering the number of contestants — 81— being in the final six was a feat indeed! Congratulations to Germaine. I agree that she’s our champion.”

Now let’s hear it from our champion, who responded so graciously to our rejoicing: 

“Thank you so much for your congratulatory messages and the support you’ve given me throughout this competition. ... I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to ESU Philippines and Shell Philippines for giving me the wonderful opportunity to represent the country in an international competition. Your faith in me has really inspired me to give my best.

“I am sorry if I have disappointed you by failing to bring home the championship trophy. I believe I did the best I could, but the final round was really tough. All the finalists were good in their own way.

“Nevertheless, I am very happy and honored to be one of the top six finalists. I was especially glad when first-round judges Alex Ward and Saskia personally told me that I did very well and was humorous, too. During the final round, the audience laughed at my occasional jokes. And when my speech ended, several hands were immediately raised for the question and answer portion. Indeed, I could not have wished for a better audience reception.

“The judges in the final round personally told me that I delivered my speech in such a way that only a skilled public speaker could — starting off with impact, mellowing down, and building up again towards the end, while constantly adjusting my pace to the audience’s reactions...

“I guess, in the final round, it all boiled down to the choice of topic. Perhaps, the judges chose South Korea as the champion because they liked his topic of job satisfaction. India placed second because the judges liked his uniqueness in talking about the gaps and spaces between words. Both South Korea’s and India’s topics are relevant to mainstream society, whereas my topic of special education may only interest a subgroup of the population.

“I think all the finalists performed really well. To just be among them was already an honor... I think the most important part of the IPSC is not competing per se, but the learning experience of the entire journey... It was amazing to witness how bright young minds from 49 different countries could gain global understanding through the sharing of insights and experiences. Indeed, though I do not have a silver trophy from ESU, I believe I take home the best trophy of all — the 80 new friends that I have gained. Until now, we keep in touch through Facebook and e-mails, and we will probably do so for more years to come.

“I would like to thank Tita Loline and Tito Ken for helping me throughout my stay in London. Their kindness and generosity are truly exceptional. I really appreciate Tita Loline’s efforts in arranging training sessions for me and the extra time she spent to take me and my parents around the city. Tita Loline and Tito Ken really made us feel at home.

“Thank you again to ESU Philippines for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to see the world and be heard...”

Following is “A Mother’s Love,” Germaine Chuabio’s winning speech:

When I was 10, I wanted to be a writer. So my mom bought me the first Harry Potter book and every single book after that. She said that if I could read them all and learn a lot of words, then I might just be the next bestselling author in the making. Well, seven books later, I learned things like ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’ but I’m still no J.K. Rowling. But at least, I won a free trip to London! And I think this is the closest I can get to a Man Booker Prize in my lifetime.

Truth is, whether you’re a writer or not, the number of words a person knows is important. Psychologists say an average educated adult should possess 20,000 words and a three-year-old 50 words. For most people, achieving these milestones is as natural as breathing. But you know, I have a twin sister who cannot talk much. Her name is Gillian. For her, learning enough words has always been a big, big problem. Mom learned from a doctor when Gillian was four that she is mentally handicapped. She is a special child.

My mom cried for Gillian. It was the most painful time in her life. But she got up, wiped her tears, and sought the help of a speech therapist. Eventually, Mom studied special education to personally teach Gillian. Still, it was not good enough because at seven, Gillian couldn’t read and write. This time, Mom took a huge leap of faith. She took out all of Dad’s savings, with his permission of course, and put up a special school so Gillian could be assured of a place to learn.

Gillian is still the lucky one. She has access to therapy and school. In my country, it is heartbreaking to note that there are more than five million children with developmental disabilities, but only about four percent receive appropriate educational services. The rest still live in poverty.

Marginalized children will not think of school when their basic needs such as food are not met. It does not help that state special schools are concentrated in the city of Manila far from the children’s homes. Moreover, these schools do not provide necessary services like speech therapy. Worse, one teacher handles a class that reminds me of a bag of assorted biscuits. You see autistic children mixed together with dyslexic children when, in fact, these two conditions have totally different educational needs.

This picture is not exclusive to the Philippines. It is the same story in many third world nations even as special children are growing in significant numbers.

But is there hope for special children in developing countries? One solution that can be done is mother empowerment. Programs can be set up that instruct mothers to teach their children. For example, the Autism Society of the Philippines is a charity organization founded by eleven mothers with autistic children. They train even more mothers, teachers, and health workers in far-flung areas of the country where special education services are nonexistent. Mother empowerment is a practical solution to a pressing need. In some cases, it can even transform mothers to become advocates and leaders who make a difference in our world.

To this day, my mom continues to teach my sister. But she has accepted her for what she is and for what she cannot be. At the end of the day, Teacher Mom is not just about teaching words. It is also about showing love.

Many special children may never be a J.K. Rowling. They may never learn enough words. But not everything that counts in life can be counted with words. A mother’s hug and kiss may mean so much more to a special child. Words are important, yes. But they are not enough without something as powerful and as unconditional as a mother’s love.