You won’t believe how I met former OFW Esperanza Tresvalles from Bato, Catanduanes.

            In 1992, I was overseeing this outreach concert in Bato town parish center by the lake beside a historic church that dated back to the 1830s.

            On the night of the concert, I was surprised by an unusual concertgoer.

            In her summer rag-tag attire and with some wild flowers on her hair, Esperanza was quite a sight. She took the back row of the hall and listened attentively as the Handel and Verdi arias reverberated in the hall.

            While soprano Luz Morete -- with Najib Ismail on the piano --  was singing Sisa’s aria (from Felipe Padilla de Leon’s Noli Me Tangere), I saw Esperanza rapt in attention. Her hands were on her lap and she looked like an African royalty in a command performance.

            Little did I know that she was the island’s modern-day Sisa.

“RIYADH DIVISIONS: TOGETHER AS ONE”

 
RIYADH – A conglomeration of some 28-31 Toastmasters International individual clubs in the Central Region (Riyadh) had successfully converged  and join  its ranks together  in one of the biggest  ever  ceremonial gatherings of toastmasters in Saudi Arabia,  dubbed as “Riyadh Divisions Joint Conference 2012” held  Friday, 4^th of May at the Main Diriyah Hall at the Riyadh Palace Hotel here.

Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago was the Chief Guest of Honor and Speaker during the ceremonies. Tago praised the Toastmasters International organizations in Riyadh for initiating  laudable projects,  such as speech contests and educational workshops that help enhance the public speaking abilities and leadership of its members and their families, but also the community which includes Filipino expatriates in the Kingdom.   He also expressed his unwavering support to the organizations, “I encourage your organization to continue with its mission and I hope that Toasmasters International will continually adhere to its commitment of empowering its members through their pursuit of excellence in leadership and  public speaking for the benefit of the community,”Tago in his  inspirational message.