From The Vault: Ano Nga Ba Ang Patinikan?

(ed. note: I have a thing for speeches and public speaking. So here, I am posting my opening remarks speech during the Patinikan 2012. Added some pictures to make it less text heavy. :D)


To our board of judges, to our guest speaker, to all my co-members in UP Tangway, to all the participants and their advisers, welcome to Patinikan 2012, and good morning.

"Bakit Patinikan?" That has been a question asked to me countless of times before. They ask, shouldn't it be, Panitikan? Taking a look at the archives of our organization, it shows that Patinikan started off mainly as an essay writing competition. Hence, Patinikan is indeed a play on the word Panitikan. Not to mention, Bataan is a province very familiar with fishes, making the name Patinikan appropriate. But then, I am asked yet another question, "Ano ang Patinikan?"

Patinikan is an inter-highschool set of competitions. But is that all there is to it?

I'd like to think that there is more to Patinikan. That it is more than just the usual academic competition. I look at Patinikan, and see it as a medium to carry out a message, and raise awareness on the different issues that are prevalent in our society today. Two years ago, we talked about the role of mass media in the government, last year it was about the drive of the Filipino students in learning, and this year is about the responsible use of technology. To put it shortly, Patinikan transcends being a competition and is now a medium for awareness, a medium for change.

Yes, this may all sound very idealistic. Yes, we are not that big of an organization, and yes, who knows if what I am saying right now makes any sense, at all. But this reminds me of a video that went viral on YouTube about two years ago. It is a video of Professor Winnie Monsod's last lecture for that semester, and in it, she mentioned a quote. The quote was, "I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something." Patinikan is our something. And if we each do our something, if we each do our part, then that moves us closer to achieving our everything. It would take all of our collective effort to achieve that everything, and it would be hard. It would not be easy, it isn't easy at all, and frankly, we shouldn't expect it to become easy. But then again, that nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.

Again, a good day, and may we have a very memorable Patinikan ahead. Thank you. :)