ORATORICAL PIECE

I am a Juan dela Cruz. I am a fighter by blood and a believer by heart. I live in a freecountry.
Although I may have a small voice, I have a big dream—a dream to master the artof spear.To our
distinguished members of the board of judges, to my equally competent contenders,to all our
keen visitors, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.To live in a multi-faceted and vast word of
globally competent people is to let a Juandela Cruz abide by the rule of the jungle that is the
survival of the fittest and theelimination of the unfit.In order to survive, Juan must master the
art of spear—the spear that will make himinvincible, the spear that will help him emerge as king,
the spear that is known today asEnglish Proficiency.But what is English Proficiency? What does it
do to help Juan in this crisis-laden world?Ladies and gentlemen, this is the skill in using the
English language. This will bringJuan closer to excellence—excellence in quenching his thirst for
global competitiveness,excellence in responding his own hullabaloos and excellence in proving
his worth.Furthermore, we might ask, why would Juan dream of this excellence? Let us not shut
oureyes to the tragic reality that Juan dela Cruz is left behind, that Juan is amidstpolitical feuds,
religious warfare and illiteracy battle in using the lingua franca,English.This tragic reality is greatly
manifested in the March 2006 Social Weather Survey showing5% Filipino adults making full use
of the English Language; 35% making fair use of thesaid language; 27% making partial use of the
language; 19% making almost no use of thelanguage and 14% not being competent in any way
when it comes to the said language.This shows that there had been a huge decline in all aspects
of English Proficiency amongthe Filipinos compared to December 1993 and September 2003
results. Anothermanifestation, ladies and gentlemen, in a recent study by the Call Center
Association ofthe Philippines where cal centers hire less that 5% of 100 Filipino applicants due
totheir poor English skills.Moreover, according to the Department of Education, only 7% of
graduating high schoolstudents had mastered English and had scored at least 75% in nationwide
tests. This thenthrew back the blame to the quality of instruction in schools and had been even
provenwhen it had been said in the 2000 Philippine Human Development Report of the
UnitedNations that would-be-teachers have poor English language skills and scored lowest
inEnglish of all subjects in their licensure exam.Friends, if this decline continues, to what
direction shall Juan move? Let Juan beequipped with the English skill, let his voice be raised to a
higher decibel that itreaches out to others and from there, it will reverberate to constantly
remind us that weare the main instruments in responding to our own struggle and efforts to
eradicate allforms of discrimination. In doing so we must evidently speak our mind but in such a
waythat foreign people may understand us and eventually join us in our battle. From therecomes
the edge of being erudite in the English language. If only we could beat thisEnglish Proficiency
crisis, we could penetrate through foreign conversations and we couldsurvive in the global
market.Though English may be another language, it doesn’t mean that we are depriving Juan of
hisnative tongue but letting him see the purpose of speaking so, as Luis Teodoro , anewspaper
columnist and journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, said,“learning another
language is a specialized and voluntary process. It can’t be forced onpeople who don’t see any
use of it in their daily lives.”
We should not let Juan paddle in the opposite direction when all other Asian people ridethe
Third wave just because of the fear that the wave will engulf him. Many people mayknow the
language but few are great. If Juan will be one of those few, it would be suchan immense deal of
honor and pride. If he would prove his worth, he shall see himselfinvincible and unconquerable.
That even if he is in the middle of the jungle he shall beready and brave to take on challenges –
the mastering of the art of spear.I am a Juan dela Cruz. I am a fighter by blood and a believer by
heart. I live in a freecountry. Although I may have a small voice, I have a big dream—a dream to
master the artof spear. Good morning