UP student wins Korean Speech Contest

12 July 2015

For her spirited recollection of her experiences in Korea, a linguistics student from the University of the Philippines-Diliman recently took the championship at the 2015 Korean Speech Contest held at the headquarters of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Taguig City.
 
The contest was organized by the Korean Cultural Center in collaboration with TESDA, Korea Tourism Organization and United Korean Community Association.
 
Maria Concepcion Loren Chua, third year BA Linguistics student, bested other contestants with her powerful delivery of her speech entitled "Fell for Korean's Charm."
 
Jannin Alegado from Cebu placed second, while Angeli Marie Baclea-an from Tacloban City bagged third place.  
 
A total of 11 finalists participated in the final round of the contest held on July 4.  They were chosen after emerging winners in the semi-final rounds held in Cebu, Davao, Manila and Iloilo. The TESDA Women Center hosted the final round of the competition.
 
Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA Director General, said the speech contest offers a platform for students to acquire new skills as part of their self improvement.  
 
"Knowledge of different languages and the ability to communicate using them can widen the opportunities for employment of Filipinos," Villanueva said. 
 
"It gives the Filipinos the edge to be competitive on a global scale," he added.
 
Villanueva said the competition also raises the level of consciousness of people about the Korean language and culture.
 
The government of Korea has been TESDA's steady partner in a number of initiatives to promote technical-vocational education in the country.
 
Marta Hernandez, executive director of TESDA Partnerships and Linkages Office, said the holding of the Korean Speech Contest further strengthened the linkage between TESDA and the Korean government.
 
“Although this is the first time for TESDA to partner with the Korean Cultural Center for the 2015 Korean Speech Contest, the Korean Government has always been very supportive to TESDA in developing the skills of the Filipino workforce,” Hernandez said.
 
The partnership for the holding of the competition was formalized in a Memorandum of Agreement signed between Villanueva for TESDA and Mr. Choongsuk Oh for the Korean Cultural Center.
 
For winning the grand prize, Chua will have the opportunity to travel to Jeju Island together with a companion for free, courtesy of the Korea Tourism Organization.  She also received P30,000 cash.
 
The preliminary competitions were held in Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Manila.  Among the regional winners were Jannin Alegado (Cebu), Angeli Marie Baclea-an (Tacloban City) and Michelle Segaya-Song, a TESDA student from Davao.
 
This year’s panel of judges was composed of Choongsuk Oh , Director of Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines; Park In-Shik, Director of the Korea Tourism Organization; Hwang Sun-tae, Principal of the Korea International School – Manila; C hang Eun-Gap, Head of Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines and Sarah Domingo-Lipura, Professor of Ateneo de Manila University.

Winners of the 2015 Korean Speech Contest receive their prizes in a ceremony held at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority headquarters. (from left to right) TESDA Executive Director Marta Hernandez, Ateneo De Manila University professor Sarah Domingo-Lipura, Korea International School principal Hwang Sun-Tae, 3rd prize winner Angeli Marie Baclea-an, KCC director Oh Choong-Suk, grand prize winner Maria Concepcion Chua, 2nd prize winner Jannin Alegado, Korea Chamber of Commerce president Chang Eun-Gab and KTO director Park In-Shik.