By everyone of course I mean mostly among the literate folk, for whom an international triumph of this nature can only be significant. In fact, Internet forwards of the positive news have generally circulated more among the Fil-American community, as well as other Pinoy communities abroad.
As a friend has remarked, Patricia’s global triumph more than marked her as Manny Pacquiao’s and/or Jasmine Trias’ counterpart when it came to public speaking. Well, better, in fact, for she placed two notches higher than third, and it was no tie of a verdict she figured in, but a unanimous vote.
It is Tricia herself who will continue to be a draw, as predicted by our London embassy information officer, the poet and multi-talented writer-photographer Ed Maranan, who helped polish her five-minute extemporaneous talk on the eve of the contest.
For those reasons at least, an audience with the apparent President-elect is being arranged for Patricia as soon as she returns from Bangkok, where she participated last week in the All-Asian Debating Championship, as a member of the UP Debate Society.
Readers of this column may recall that we first featured Patricia Evangelista when she won the local finals early last March, staged at the Ateneo by the ESU-Philippines applicant chapter. Tricia became our fourth competitor in the annual London event in the past three years.
Ryan Buenafe of the FEU and Mahar Mangahas Jr. of AdMU were our student candidates, at no more than 19 years of age, in 2002. Followed Camille Ng of AdMU, who made it to the semifinals last year. Somehow I’d always felt that it would be just a matter of time before a Pinoy youngster took the grand prize home. After all, surely we aren’t supposed to be the third-largest English-speaking nation in the world for nothing, right?
A deeper flashback: In 2001, three Filipino poets found themselves in London for the last leg of a European lecture-reading tour courtesy of the NCCA. This began in Rome and went on to Leuven and Ghent in Belgium. In the UK, then Ambassador to the Court of St. James Cesar Bautista asked the eventual National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, Dr. Benilda Santos and this writer to accompany him on a courtesy call at the English Speaking Union headquarters at Dartmouth House.
ESU International director-general Valerie Mitchell graciously suggested that we start a steering committee that could then apply for chapterhood, to join more than 50 other countries as members of the prestigious international British institution dedicated to the idea of "Creating Global Understanding through English."
In a few months, under Ambassador Bautista’s guiding hand, we had done that, here in Manila, thence managed to send both Buenafe and Mangahas for our first participation in an ESU activity. The second was my attendance at the ESU International council meeting in London in the summer of 2002, as arranged by Ambassador Bautista.
The steering committee was composed mostly of university leaders, among these FEU chair Dr. Lourdes Montinola, Dr. Marlu Vilches and Dr. Isabel Martin of AdMU, Dr. Jimmy Abad of UP, Dr. Ophie Dimalanta of UST, Dr. Thomas Kral of the US Embassy and other equally distinguished surgeons of the written word. The chairmanship of the steering committee passed on last year to Dr. Butch Dalisay, surgeon-general of the English language. It is his good vibes as a lapsed smoker that surely led us to this pinnacle of participation in just the briefest of whiles.
A few months ago, Ambassador Bautista asked both the British Ambassador Paul Dimond and British Council director Gill Westaway, who has supported us from the start, to join us in a meeting where possible incorporators from the business world could propel our committee into a formalized applicant chapter.
It was Pilipinas Shell that came to fund Ms. Evangelista’s sojourn as our third-year contestant. And it was only fitting that our lady in London who happened to have first broached the idea of Philippine representation in the ESU, Madame Loline Reed, who offered to host Tricia for over a week before the start of the official competition.
On the evening of May 14, Nicole Curato of the UP Debate Society texted: Tricia had gained the finals! In a few more minutes, the next SMS came from our contestant herself: "Krip! Dr. Dalisay! Finalist! — Tricia." "Congrats," I texted back. "Why am I not surprised?"
Patricia had gone through two sessions with Jimmy, Butch, Camille and me to enhance her already well-crafted draft. The only input I can recall us offering was for her to reduce the focus on the wishful Filipino, rather to cite other instances of global diaspora in the making of "A Borderless World" —- the contest theme.
The 18-year-old Patricia, a UP SpeechCom sophomore, obviously had it in her: the intelligence, vivacity, charm, eloquence, and most important, an earnest willingness to listen to doting old mentors. Oh, we added, and please do something about those stray bangs that keep falling across your eye. Thus did we wish her well.
At a little past midnight, the15th of May, cell phone text from Camille fairly ejaculated: "Pat won!!! Pat won!!! Pat won!!! Patricia Evangelista won the ESU public speaking contest!!!"
Hmm. While we were convinced that we still weren’t surprised, we felt absolutely elated. We had done it. Or rather, Patricia had done it for us.
Her father, Bobby Evangelista, e-mailed us the next day, sharing the great good news and thanking us. A report came soon after, from Ed Maranan, the Palanca Hall-of-Famer who of late has taken to picking on The Guardian competitors in the paper’s weekly haiku-writing contest. He’s won consecutively, serially. It was no haiku he sent us, however, but a full-blown report.
"Patricia Evangelista, an 18-year-old communications sophomore at UP Diliman, won the 2004 Best Speaker award in the International Public Speaking competition conducted yearly by the English-Speaking Union (ESU) in London.
"The petite, poised, pretty and formidable Filipina… won her place in the finals after clinching one of two slots in her heat during the tension-filled, hotly contested morning preliminaries held at the ESU headquarters in London. With the eight finalists known by lunchtime, the action shifted to the Kinema theater hall of the imposing South Africa House on Trafalgar Square for the decisive showdown in the afternoon. The seven other speakers came from Malaysia, Pakistan, Czech Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco and Mongolia. The native speakers of English – from the USA, England and Wales, and Australia – had earlier been eliminated in the heats. South Africa, always a strong contender, also failed to make it to the finals…
"There was a hushed silence as the chairman of the board of judges – BBC veteran journalist Brian Hanrahan – announced their unanimous decision. He first read out the names of the winners of the Best Non-Native English Speaker prize – Malaysia – and the runner-up prize – Mongolia. At the mention of Patricia Evangelista’s name as Best Speaker of the competition, thunderous applause erupted. Ambassador and Mrs. Edgardo Espiritu and the rest of the Embassy delegation congratulated the winner, who was in tears as she called up her parents in Manila on her cell phone.
"Evangelista accepted her prizes as Best Speaker from lady dean of ESU’s board of governors and Dame Mary Richardson, chief executive of the HSBC Education Trust and member of the board of judges representing her bank which is this year’s major sponsor... The Best Speaker received a salver, a certificate, a dictionary and an encyclopedia – and will return to London in November to formally accept her prize at the Buckingham Palace from HRH Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh who is also the president of the English-Speaking Union.
"Patricia was easily a crowd favorite even during the preliminaries. Her speech was praised by one of her heat’s judges as very well crafted. Her subject matter was the Filipino diaspora and the contributions of the global Filipino, as well as her own dreams of traveling abroad but coming back to help her country. This, plus the confident, relaxed and engaging manner with which she delivered her piece, won the judges’ nod, and for her the honor of being the best in a field of outstanding young communicators from all over the English-speaking world."
And on Saturday night, we learned of yet another source of support that virtually spelled Tricia’s triumph. Her mother Felicia shared a letter she had e-mailed Loline and Ken Reed, for which we are grateful as we in turn share it with everyone.
"Dear Tita Loline and Tito Ken,
"Oh wow, how sweet is Victory!
"It is new to us, this international thingamajig called ESU. We have never had such an agonizing but victorious wait like this. Why, it is like winning the lotto. I really got dizzy with the emotion that swept through me when Tricia texted me two simple words: ‘I won!’ I could not understand why my square husband was telling me to calm down. I was screaming daw pero how come I didn’t realize it? It was midnight here and I think I woke my neighbor Bingle. And well, so what, di ba? Victory felt good, yah, Tita and Tito, I really felt proud of our joint manok.
"Tita Loline, Tito Ken, Tricia’s opponents, though undoubtedly worthy or perhaps worthier, am sorry to say, all 59 of them, never stood a chance.
"You have to see and believe the tiny army of prayer warriors that was left here to root for Tricia. Because we live in a tight community, word of mouth and texting of Tricia’s international competition quickly brought many to gather and to storm the heavens, including our padres at San Pedro. They know Trish and they love her. Rosaries were wielded, Holy Masses were offered for her intention, and at the exact time of the finals and the elims, we gathered at 3 p.m. before the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Sisters Convent and gave our all in intense prayers.
"Lina Datu, our prayer leader, pretty much covered every aspect of the tournament. We prayed for wisdom for the judges, we asked the Holy Spirit to put clarity and order and intensity for Tricia as she gave her speech. We prayed for all the participants that he or she who was most worthy would win. Naturally there was a whispered P.S. from each one of us – that she win! And so on and on we prayed. My warriors were indefatigable!
"We all went home from the chapel and when Trish called to say she was a finalist, we all jumped in our homes… Candles were lit in many homes as well as in all of Tricia’s relatives’ and friends’ homes. Whew, the army was ablaze…, on fire to scrape the prayer bowl, so to speak. Mudmud kami sa dasal! I swear, Tita Loline, my house was almost on fire with candles in my sala, in the lanai, in my bedroom. Talayan Village, as viewed from the heavens, must have looked like a flickering star last night.
"I don’t really care if everyone laughs at me and my Army’s religiosity. If they knew any better, they should be impressed and be touched with our spirituality! Pacquiao is more than welcome to enjoin our little prayer army on his next bout. Blow by blow, we will be there to accompany him with His Divine Mercy. Malamang no draws yan.
"And this is what I always tell Trish – Hey kid, you better remember this: By yourself you are nothing, hija. Without Him you cannot manage. Without Him you are defeated. Without Him you are brainless. You will win if you remember His primacy in the midst of self-confidence.
"And so as I said, Tita Loline, the other kids never had a chance! The Prayer Army in the Philippines cheering and praying for our Tricia was formidable, it could be heard in the farthest corners of the heavens.
"Ang kulit ng mga warriors ko!…
"Glory to God, YES!!! A victory for the Philippines.
"Yup. They never stood a chance."