i do. here is the piece


Pinay wins it big in London

Patricia Evangelista, a 19-year-old, Mass Communications sophomore of
University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, did the country proud Friday
night by besting 59 other student contestants from 37 countries in the 2004
International Public Speaking competition conducted by the English Speaking
Union (ESU) in London.


She triumphed over a field of exactly 60 speakers from all over the
English-speaking world, including the United States, United Kingdom and
Australia, reported Maranan.
The board of judges' decision was unanimous, according to contest chairman
Brian Hanharan of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).






PATRICIA'S SHORT SPEECH WORTH READING....
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BLONDE AND BLUE EYES


When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country
wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.


I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up
on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my
nose!


More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have
sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in
the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of "greener
pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora.
Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.


There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to.
Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for
family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I
called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom
to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the
Spanish, the Japanese,
the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting
on that sacrifice.


Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this
phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world
is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where
no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of
Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure
Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.


Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different
ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because
of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as
this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back
home.


Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of
populations, is not as ominous as so
many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one
that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of
dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time.Especially now, when we
have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year.
They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so
much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back
We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health
Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world
s commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your
construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in
North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.


Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate
to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British
society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of
races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!


Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The
Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come
home, richer in every sense of the word. We
call people like these balik-bayans or the 'returnees' -- those who followed
their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good
fortune.


In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way.
But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home
I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it
isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me


And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my
windows on a bright Christmas morning.


Mabuhay. and Thank you.

ang galing talaga ni patricia! her piece makes me prouder 2 b a filipino!!! mabuhay ang mga pinoys!!!

i've read about this na rin.. sa newspaper ko sya dati nabasa.. sa inquirer.. galing nga nya eh..

Patricia is a good example of a Filipino youth

mabuhay ang mga Pilipino!

A 21 BOWS FOR MS. PATRICIA...i think she WON not because of the Good Delivery or her personality but the TRUTH OF HER PIECE that struck deep into the understanding minds of the Judges...Patricia although she is not a Native Filipina(Tisay Na)but she knows what it is to be a Filipino,the history and the today...21 more bows WHOEVER WROTE HER PIECE...Sana marami pang tulad ni Patricia among 86 million Filipinos now...MABUHAY KA... oki doki dok???

galing talaga...i'm proud to be pinoy..

Wow she is great. It really goes to show that Filipinos can standout anywhere. She deserves a recognition for that achievement.

Bro. William...
For me, it is not important what country you belong...
what skin color you have...
what matters most is HOW YOU LOVE AND PROUD HAVING ONE COUNTRY YOU CAN CALL YOUR OWN...
This is where i belong...be it a Third World country or the least of all...i will give myself for Her including my life if my country needs it...for what is the use of my life without a resting place...