On to London for Ervim Charles!

All set for the annual English Speaking Union (ESU) International Public Speaking Competition to be held in London in May is our student delegate Ervim Charles Orbase, an 18-year-old Multimedia Arts sophomore at Asia Pacific College in Makati City.

Orbase topped the national competition that drew 37 participants coming not just from the usual high schools, colleges, and universities within Metro Manila, but also from new schools in Bulacan, Dumaguete and Cebu. Participating schools included UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Los Baños, FEU, UST, DLSU, STC, ADMU, LSGH, Philippine Science High School, St. Paul’s College, Letran, Claret, Bulacan State University, Siliman University, and Cebu Normal University.

The screening rounds were conducted on March 6 at UP Diliman’s School of Economics, in conjunction with the UP Debate Society’s hosting of college debate competitions. Nine finalists were selected and presented by UP Debate Society president Anna Arcellana to the ESU-Philippines board of judges for the Finals held later in the day: ESU-Phil chair Amb. Cesar Bautista, ESU-Phil president Dr. Marlu C. Vilches, and board members Howard Belton, Dr. Lourdes Montinola, Erlinda Panlilio, Dr. Butch Dalisay, and this writer.

Joining the judges’ panel was Gian Karlo Dapul, the IPSC grand prize winner in 2008, our second winning delegate after Patricia Evangelista’s breakthrough triumph in 2004.

Orbase’s draft speech that went no more than five minutes, on this year’s contest theme of “Speculations for the Future,” was curiously titled “The Optimism of a Highly Sinister 13-year-old Thief.” It certainly drew the appreciation of the judges, who gave Ervin plus marks for originality, humor, substance and structure, and dynamic delivery. His selection as our Philippine candidate was unanimous. 

Wounding up in second place and thus the first alternate was another student from Asia Pacific College, Czarina Moresco Frias, while winning 3third place was Richard Estrella from UP Diliman. 

Last Monday, March 22, British Ambassador and Mrs. Stephen Lillie hosted the English Speaking Union, Philippines chapter, at a reception in the young ambassador’s residence in North Forbes.

In attendance apart from the honoree Ervim Orbase and the ESU-Phil judges were other ESU-Phil board members such as Dr. Isagani Cruz and Luigi Bernas, as well as BPA/P (Business Processing Application Philippines) president and CEO Oscar R. Sañez, Jillian “Gigi” Virata who’s currently involved in call-center training, and English-language advocate, columnist and author Jose Carillo.

Also present to toast the honoree and wish him luck in London were AdMu literature professor, prizewinning fictionist/essayist/critic and STAR columnist Exie Abola, AdMU literature teacher and prizewinning poet Larry Ypil, and past Philippine student-delegates to the IPSC, namely Patricia Evangelista, Mahar Mangahas Jr., Julie Prescott, and last year’s delegate Renzo Guinto. 

Quickly welcoming the news of Ervim’s impending participation in the London competition was Loline Adelina Reed, who has always helped greatly in getting our delegates settled comfortably in a new environment, as well as in preparing for the competition. For the past several years since we formed our Philippines chapter and started sending our contestants in 2002, Loline has played a major role, from meeting them at the airport and providing her own homestay program before the contest, to showing the kids around and giving them tips on refining their final speeches.

Already she’s started on this by offering e-mailed advice: 

“Please tell Ervim to arrive at least four days (Thursday to Sunday) before he goes to the President Hotel on Monday. He can stay with us if he has no other relatives or friends to stay with. We will pick him up at the airport and deliver him to his hotel. This way, he will have time to recover from jetlag and will be sparkly and awake when he joins the other competitors. There are apparently more competitors this year as announced by the ESU. I hope he will also join the homestay offer to contestants. The weather is still very unpredictable in May so it will be useful for him to also bring some warm clothes with him. Gian should be able to tell Ervim what to bring.

“Please make sure that his speech and delivery will be fine-tuned by the time he arrives. He will have more confidence if his speech does not have to be rewritten after he arrives. I like the title of his speech — very intriguing, just like the ‘Fish fungus etc.’ of Gian’s and the ‘Blonde and blue-eyed’ of Patricia. I am inclined to not expose him to many well-meaning ‘critics’ when he arrives. From past experience, this seemed to have affected some of our past contestants. Their confidence wavered and that was not a positive experience for them. Gian, Butch and Krip will be more than enough ‘trainers’ for Ervim. Patricia too can look in, I hope. 

“Please tell us what else Ken and I can do for Ervim.”

Thanks again, Loline. Many thanks, too, to Ed Chua, country manager of Shell Pilipinas, for sponsoring our student delegates over the past number of years, in terms of airfare. And good luck to Ervim Charles Orbase in London, where he will face off with maybe about 70 other 18-year-old-and-below competitors from as many as 50 countries affiliated with the English Speaking Union.

Tough go, but we’ve won it twice in the last eight years. Not bad for a fledgling country chapter, where the quality of English usage may be said to betray itself in the wording of laws that remain open to diverse and contrary interpretations, even by wizened magistrates of the highest court in the land.

Ongoing at the Yuchengco Museum at the RCBC Plaza on Ayala Avenue corner Buendia is “Pen, Paper, and Book-making: The Life of Carlos Quirino,” a notable exhibit featuring manuscripts, diaries, letters, and rare books from the Quirino family archives.

The display highlights the literary and scholarly craft of Carlos Quirino, who was declared National Artist for Historical Literature for his groundbreaking historical writings and biographies. Among his works are The Great Malayan, Lives of the Philippine Presidents, The Young Aguinaldo, and Filipinos at War.

The exhibit, which opened on Feb. 18 with a launching of the new edition of Qurino’s landmark Philippine Cartography (first published in 1959 and now reissued by Vibal Foundation) also explores the many facets of the author as a citizen, writer, government official, and man of culture. It is jointly presented by Vibal Foundation, Yuchengco Museum, and the family of Carlos Quirino, in commemoration of the Carlos Quirino Centennial.

Also at the museum till Wednesday, March 31, is the staggeringly memorable multi-media exhibit billed as “Remix: Santiago Bose.” A postmodern retrospective of the works and pandemic influence of the late visual artist and cultural provocateur Santiago Bose of Baguio City, the show contextualizes his impact on Philippine art through modern takes on his wide-ranging corpus of art, with more than 35 visual, literary, and multimedia artists jamming along with the bright vestiges of his legacy.

Among the highlights are literary and visual works inspired by Bose’s fave anting-anting subjects, as well as video clips chronicling his shamanic performances and installations. Also on view is Bose’s final, unfinished work, the mural “Return of the Comeback,” as well as a collaborative remix of the same by contemporary artists.  

And while you’re there, you might as well visit the Books & Gifts Corner at the museum lobby, where copies of the soft-cover coffee-table book Espiritu Santi: The Strange Art & Even Stranger Legacy of Santiago Bose are still available.

Another fine collectible is the “Birds of the Everglades 2010” calendar that showcases stunning images by Florida photographer Jake Paredes. This 15-page wall calendar is sure to delight nature lovers all year long. Paredes is one of the founders of the Everglades Photographic Society, an organization dedicated to promoting conservation through photography. Each snapshot is taken in Florida’s wetlands and nature reserves. Among the birds featured in the calendar are the Great Egret, Black Skimmer, and Northern Cardinal. Further information about the birds and photographic details can be found below each spectacular image.

You may also simply beat the summer heat by cooling off at the three floors of the museum while enjoying the works of Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco, as well as exhibits on architectural photographs, Asian prints, and traditional Chinese paintings. In observance of Holy Week and Araw ng Kagitingan, the museum will be closed from April 1 to 3 and on April 9. Otherwise it is open from Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.