'A most phenomenal speaker'

Heartbroken for Cleveland: that’s how I feel. It’ll take time to get over the disappointment of seeing how a hero’s feet are made out of clay. No, I won’t burn all my Cavs No. 23 jerseys and tees the way some fellows are doing in Ohio as I write this on Friday noon, hours after LeBron James’ primetime ego stunt on ESPN billed as “The Decision.” It’ll always be known as “The Defection” — with his legacy taking a big hit even as he dons No. 6 for the Miami Heat.

Will he ever live this down? Too early to tell, with so many flame threads and spins for the moment on this sorry affair. Too much to dwell on here and now, but I agree that he just carved out his own home state’s heart, not just a city’s — and he didn’t have to do it on national TV. Witless.

Okay, at least he didn’t go to the Big Apple, as our buddy Luis Francia was hoping for, as all New Yorkers were yearning and fantasizing. Not much consolation for us Cavs fans.

For Luis — poet, journalist, editor, educator, and freshly-minted historian — he’ll forget about it by tomorrow, his big day in Cubao when his latest title, History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos, is launched starting at 6:30 p.m. at National Book Store at Araneta Center, across Gateway.

A brief talk by the author who’s on a home visit will lead to a Q & A session, followed by the book signing and a reception hosted by Anvil and NBS. The book is published by The Overlook Press of New York and London.

We quote from an early release:

“The Philippines is a country in its adolescence, struggling in fits and starts to emerge from its rich, troubled and multi-layered past. History of the Philippines presents various Philippine narratives — familiar and unfamiliar — and summarizes the different forces that have transformed an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands into a republic over the course of five centuries.

“Author Luis Francia, professor of creative writing and Asian-Pacific American Studies at New York University, skillfully describes the key turning points in modern Philippine history — from the period of Americanization (1899-1946) to Independence and its aftermath (1946-1972) to the tumultuous reign of President Ferdinand Marcos (1972-1986), and on through the modern era dominated by economic and political uncertainties.”

Luis starts his account with a chapter on the discovery in 1989 of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (“the oldest known document of pre-Spanish times in the Philippine archipelago”), drawn up in 900 CE, which means it antedates Muslim Maynilad by a good half-millennium. It ends contemporaneously, with the expected end of the Arroyo administration and likely ascent of a President Noynoy Aquino. 

Unlike most history books, this one carries no footnotes — a deliberate decision, said the author last Tuesday evening when Trix Syjuco and I interviewed him in our GNN TV talk show Illuminati on Destiny cable. Indeed, his poet’s eye and acumen may be trusted to thread through the back stories and historical leitmotifs he has selected to illuminate his narrative of a country/nation still in the making.

Some readers of this space may be wondering whatever happened to the International Public Speaking Competition held by the English Speaking Union in London last May, to which we sent our 18-year-old student-representative, Ervin Charles Orbase of Asia-Pacific College.

My regrets for failing to report on the outcome weeks ago, but here it is: Ervin emerged as the “unofficial” winner, it may be said, albeit a quirk in the judging might have deprived him of the official title as Best Speaker.

Every year we of the ESU-Philippines chapter receive an account from our grand lady in London, Madame Loline Reed, the most gracious and knowledgeable Filipina in that city, especially when it comes to Philippine-British relations. Here’s her report, in parts:

“Dear ESU-Philippines Friends,

“This year’s Competition had the largest number of competitors — a total of 80 participants (from over 50 countries) ... Albania, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Ghana, Lithuania, Mauritius, Moldova, New Zealand, Philippines, Serbia and Tajikistan sent 1 participant each. The rest sent two.

“The rules for the competition were changed. Rather than have judges from the established academicians and English experts and the BBC etc. that the Competition used to have, the judges were all quite young — former IPSC competitors from 2000, which included the IPSC 2000 competitor from Brazil who judged Ervim’s group (together with) an HSBC Communications Assistant and an ESU Speech/ Debate mentor.

“I must admit that I was very surprised to see how young the judges were, but of course, the idea of both the ESU and the HSBC must have been for young judges to judge their peers...

“In Group 6, where Ervim competed, the speakers were all very good, especially the ones from Belgium, Russia-St. Petersburg, Australia, Iceland, Yemen and the Philippines. The weakest speakers that the audience agreed on at the break period were Chile and Ghana. Ervim’s competition we thought would be Australia, Russia, the amusing and entertaining Yemeni girl who spoke about men being future dinosaurs, and Iceland except that he had note cards he was reading from...

“You would have been all so proud of Ervim. He was transformed! Wearing his colorful barong Tagalog in gradated blue, embroidered with coconut trees and a bahay kubo in black outline and with carefully coifed hair, he did not look like the Ervim we listened to at our training sessions at home. On his right lapel, he proudly pinned the British and Philippines flag pin, which he told me was given to him by Ambassador Stephen Lillie (in Manila), and on the left lapel was pinned the Philippine flag and the Shell logo pin which he said was given to him by Mr. Ed Chua (of Pilipinas Shell which sponsored Ervin’s airfare).

“He spoke very well and the young audience reacted to him, laughing at the right moments, and I could see that they were enjoying his speech. At the end of his speech, he received an ovation. He also did very well in answering the questions, four in all that he managed to receive and reply to, in the two minutes allotted for questions. One tricky question came from a lady from Iceland: ‘Since joblessness is a main problem in your country and the reason why so many leave to seek jobs abroad, will you, in two years time when you are older, change your mind and be tempted to go abroad too?’

“He smiled at her and replied, ‘Thank you for your question, but Ma’am, I will remain in my country where people know me rather than go abroad where no one knows me, as I am determined to use whatever skills and talents I have to share them with my own people.’ He added, ‘Should I go abroad to study or train, I will definitely come back.’ That was the last question and the lady smiled at Ervim kindly...

“During the break, while we were all waiting for the announcements as to who got through to the main Finals to be held at the HSBC, there was Ervim being surrounded by his new friends from Group 6. DCM Ray Catapang talked to the elders from the countries in Ervim’s group and they told him how Ervim did well. We felt that Ervim had a great chance to be in the main Finals; judging from what we saw of his performance, he had the edge.

“When Mark Tulip, HSBC Communications Assistant, announced the finalists from Group 6, he said very clearly and loudly, ‘The entry from the Philippines, Ervim Charles Orbase, is a most phenomenal speaker.’ The Group 6 people clapped and cheered!

“But then, we learned that the rules had been changed so that from the 80 participants, only six were chosen to go into the main Finals at the HSBC — one from each group instead of the previous two per group when the contestants were fewer. When the cheering subsided, Mark continued that, due to a very narrow margin, the girl from Chile was the one going to the Finals instead of Ervim. There were groans of ‘NO!’ and ‘Can’t be!’”

The Icelanders and others from Group 6 who were standing with us at the back of the room were all very vocal about their disagreement with the judging results. But the announcements quickly concluded and people were told to leave the room and go to the HSBC in Canary Wharf immediately. To my astonishment, Ervim’s group mates rushed to him and congratulated him profusely for being ‘a most phenomenal speaker’ while the girl who became the finalist was ignored...

“I overheard people saying: ‘How could that be? Politics or what?’... Chile just joined the ESU last year and of course the Philippines already had two champions, in 2004 and 2008. DCM Ray Catapang and I just consoled Ervim and told him that we felt that his group’s choice as the finalist was him, and did he not receive the title of being ‘A most phenomenal speaker’? I told him that I have been attending the competitions since 2002 when we had our first participants and had two champions since, and I never heard of such an accolade paid to a speaker. Ervim was very gracious in defeat, but of course felt happy to get his accolade. A pity though because everyone from the other groups who heard what the Judge told them about Ervim being a ‘most phenomenal speaker’ would have all liked to hear his speech at the grand finals.

“I did not go to the HSBC for the grand finals anymore but instead I went to the Royal Over-Seas League to ‘cool down.’ As you can imagine, I was very bemused and bewildered by it all. Ervim phoned Ken and me in the evening and he told us that the girl from Chile did not do well. The boy from Lebanon won while the girl from Hong Kong came out in second place.

“He had an intriguing conversation though from the female judge from Brazil while he was enjoying the buffet lunch. She approached him to apologize and to tell him, ‘I think my colleagues and I made a mistake.’ He said he just smiled at her and did not say anything.

“So, Ervim deserves our thank-you for representing the Philippines at the competition. He was stoic and gracious in defeat, but I still imagine how it would have been — I did feel that he is ‘a most phenomenal speaker.’ DCM Catapang said that ‘Ervim should join us at the Foreign Office.’ You know what truly amused me while talking to Ervim over the phone? He told me, ‘Tita, when I go back before school starts, I will already investigate how I can join the Foreign Office.’”

So there. We here of the ESU-Philippines chapter heartily congratulate Ervim for his speech intriguingly titled “The Optimism of a Highly Sinister Thirteen-Year-Old Thief” — and for making a good account of himself. This genial boy of benign wit can only go far in representing our country as a future career.

On a final note, our ESU-Phil and Philippine STAR colleague Dr. Isagani Cruz reports that The English Speaking Union of the United States has donated a container van of more than 24,000 books, toys, and school supplies to the Department of Education through the ESU-Phil and Books for Philippine Schools Foundation, which Dr. Cruz heads. The beneficiaries were public schools in Malabon, Marikina, Pasig, Pateros, Taguig, and Valenzuela. Why, thank you very much, ESU-U.S.