What's In A Name?

Mario Pao - a humorous speaker, most improved toastmaster, first Div D Governor. Andrea Si - Bar Topnotcher, famous, rich. Jocelle Batapa - Speech champion, Public Servant, Healthy. What about Jess Quiatchon? Anyone?

Jess Quiatchon is Jess Quiatchon as Anna Dizon is Anna Dizon!

He is a certified educator. Whenever he attends a seminar, he always asks for certificates. His line, “May certificate na?” You may not be aware that Jess Quiatchon is a doctor minus the stethoscope. He is a doctor of philosophy in business administration and doctor of philosophy in educational management. So you can call him a 2-time doctor but not a two-timer doctor. So consider yourselves lucky. Every Saturday, not only you brush elbow with the first Division D Governor, see the twin brother of Piolo Pascual but you also get the chance to see a two-time doctor!

Jess holds the distinction of being President twice, year after year. Maybe because of  "second chaance"? Hehe. I do not really know. I was his VP Education last year but most of the time I bang the gavel during meetings! Why? Because he is a doctor and doctors are busy. Thank you Jess for making me feel how it is to be President while being the Vice-President. It is because of you that TM Lilian called me an overacting toastmaster. Although if TM Lilian is around in the meeting, I am "underacting".

TM Jam Grandea would always crtitic his sing-song speech. But that's mainly because he is a frustrated singer! Yes! Among the “tatlong itlog”, he always scores the highest in their karaoke sessions, singing “My Way”. He got 74 while Boy Sanchez and Ramon Granflor got only 50! When he ran for Barangay Captain, he lost because he sang “My Way” in rallies and meetings. Lesson learned. Delegate. Get me as your official singer and Mario as your dancer. You will win for sure.

Jess above all, is a strong believer of population control. No. I don’t mean family planning. I mean, he is still one of those dashing, head-turner, debonair women search for. His eligibility is beyond question. Meaning, he could be your prince charming or your knight in shining armour!

That’s Jess Quitchon. A certified educator with plenty of certificates. A two-time doctor. A two-time president with an overacting VP Ed. A singer of “My Way” and “My Way” alone, and of course, a dashing debonair.

Long Live Jess Quiatchon!

Past and Present

Meet the Brave and the Daring!

2011 Area 33 Speech Contest

If you think old toastmasters don’t feel the jitters in contests, think again!

I joined my first toastmasters contest in 2008. That was also the year I joined the organization. You are partly correct if you think that I don’t have a problem with self confidence. My first contest was the speech to evaluate and that marked my first taste of victory in public speaking being a TM. I was the Area 33 Champion in Evaluation.

Since then, joining contests becomes a yearly activity. I have a confession though. Every year, the nervousness is always there. Many would like to think that when you’re doing it every year, it becomes easier year after year. Not at all! Believe me. The more pressure there is when you are ahead of the others. One time, while we were at the lobby of Sugarland waiting for our turn to speak in the Table Topics, I remarked to another contestant, “Contest is torture and yet why are we here?”

Francis Kong shed light on that question. Taking risks stretches us. It makes us see a better picture of what we can possibly do. It makes us discover new things about ourselves. It makes us grow. It magnifies us.

So I decided this year to join in three contests; Table Topics, Speech to Evaluate, and Prepared International Speech Contests. This meant more standing that sitting down. This meant faster heartbeat than anyone else in the room. This meant more chances of winning. The more entries you send, the more chances of winning!

I could see the scrutinizing eyes of everyone present. I heard one said, "Ara na naman c Jay oh!"

The results of the contests are detailed below. Congratulations to the winners! Up next is the Division Contest – another round of being “On the Edge”.

Area 33 is one of the 3 areas of Division D, headed by Area Gov. Glory Hernia, ACB. It is composed of 4 clubs namely, Bacolod Square and Compass TMC, Lopez Sugar TMC, Kauswagan TMC, and my club Riverside TMC. The judges were DTM Ro Leonora (Chief Judge), ACB Meliton Sillador (Div D Governor), CC Lorna Espartero (Past Div Governor), CTM Cherrie Grace Abkilan (Immediate Past Division Governor, and ACG Melinda Sisles (Past Area 31 Governor).

Winners in the Table Topics Contest: Champion - CC Jay Cris Famoso (Riverside TMC); 2nd Place - CC Jackie Rubin (Riverside TMC)

Winners in the Speech to Evaluate Contest: Champion - CC Jay Cris Famoso (Riverside TMC); 2nd Place - CC Jess Quiatchon (Riverside TMC)

Winners in the Humorous Speech Contest: Champion - TM Oscar Esler (Bacolod Square and Compass TMC); ACG Pope Jalandoon (Bacolod Square and Compass TMC)

Winners in the Prepared International Speech Contest: Champion - CTM Mario Pao (Riverside TMC); 2nd Place - CC Jay Cris Famoso (Riverside TMC)

NEVER GIVE UP YOUR DREAM

The winning of Angeline Quinto in the talent search, Star Power, sends one message: Never give up your dream!

I admit I am a fan of singing contests. And I think you will not wonder. If it does, you don’t know me yet. For those who know me, if I explain it, it will just be sheer redundancy. So I will leave it that way.

Watching television when I was in school was never an issue. I have the freedom to switch on our TV set, any time of the day and any time of the year. I could not remember any house rule that said, No TV when its 7pm or No TV when its exam days. And I was very happy about that including my sister.

Having confessed that, I have religiously followed a lot of singing contests on national television. And I know a lot of singers, now popular, coming from these talent searches.

Ethel Booba whose name before was Ethel Gabison is a product of Sing Galing, a videoki contest hosted by an Ilonggo Allan K and Ai-ai delas Alas at ABC 5. People may not know about it but she is a certified belter. She can nail effortlessly Barbra Streisand’s “People and leave you with your jaw dropped.

Sarah Geronimo is a grand winner of the talent search, Star for a Night, hosted by Regine Velasquez. She won over Angeline Quinto in that contest. I will not dwell much on Sarah G. because you might know more things about her than I do. After all she is tagged as the next big thing.

When Star Power presented their big catch of hopeful singers after a nationwide series of eliminations, one face seemed very familiar. I am talking about the reticent lady who prefers to be just on the side, Angeline.

When she was little, I already watched her in the Singing contest, tagged “Sing Ala Regine” at MTB, ABS-CBN. I must say, she really sounded like Regine minus of course the emotional maturity when Regine sings. But the tonal quality, belting technique, phrasing, emphasis of the e and i, climaxing, were totally that of Regine.

She also joined, “This is it kantahan” hosted by Bayani Agbayani at GMA 7 but she lost.

Until Star Power was created hosted by Sharon Cuneta that she proved to be the voice to reckon with. Among the songs that she hammered very well were Habang May Buhay (her song in the finals of Star for a Night), Through the Fire, I don’t Wanna Miss a thing, and Ikaw.

It was during the grand finals that she really spewed fire. It appeared to me that she wants to tell her audience, this is my stage! The songs are mine! Belting is just a walk in the park. Her vocal calisthenics was showcased in her rendition of, “What Kind of Fool Am I”, a foreign song arranged by a Louie Ocampo for Regine Velasquez. Her singing of “I don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” revealed that she does not fear any note in a musical piece! And those attributes gave her the wings to fly inside Ynares Center that made her deserve the title, Pinoy Pop Superstar!

Angeline’s success is a long ride. But she persisted. And now she tells the story of a young lady with a lesson in life that giving up your dream is like giving up your life!

35th National Milo Marathon Schedule

July 3 Laoag City
July 10 Dagupan City
July 17 Olongapo City
July 24 Tarlac
July 31 Manila Elims
Aug 21 Batangas City
Aug 28 Puerto Princessa
Sept 4 Naga City
Sept 11 San Pablo City
Sept 18 Iloilo City
Sept 25 Bacolod City
Oct 2 Cebu City
Oct 9 Tagbilaran
Oct 16 Cagayan de Oro
Oct 23 Butuan City
Oct 30 General Santos
Nov 6 Davao City
Dec 11 Manila Elims

Badminton and I; Reunited Today

Today, badminton and I are reunited. 'Twas 2 long years and I am back in the game. And hopefully this is for good.

I seriously played badminton while in Dumaguete for some tourney events. Like I can endure 5 straight games with only having to drink water as a break. Dumaguete at that time has only one 1 court available; that's at YMCA building. As far as I can remember, they charge 120 pesos per hour. Having no work at that time, it really was expensive. Now there are two available courts with the addition of the one situted in Barangay Bagacay at the back of a small shopping center.

When I moved in Bacolod, badminton is a lot more famous. Proof is the existence of three badminton courts. It used to be four until Shuttlers closed and as I passed by it, the place is now converted as a depot. The three are Badminton east side, Arrows, and Pohang.

My first badminton game was played in Arrows thru a good friend. My succeeding games were already at East Side due to the proximity of my workplace and house during tuesdays and thursdays and even saturdays. I played for almost a year and made a lot of friends. Not to mention that many of my workmates play badminton very well.

At some point, I made a stop. Then play when invited by friends, most especially when friends are from faraway places like Jess who came all the way from Davao and when he visits Bacolod he never fails to bring his badminton gears and play. When not invited to play, I am somewhere else doing other things. So I really stopped being connected with the game.

Until today that I set foot again in this abandoned part of the city. I wore those sporty socks. I held my racket again, displayed footwork in the court, smashed, drove, dropped, cleared the shuttlecock once again. And finally I am reunited with badminton today!