For her spirited recollection of her experiences in Korea, a linguistics student from the University of the Philippines-Diliman has taken the much-coveted championship at the 2015 Korean Speech Contest held at the headquarters of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Taguig City.
Maria Concepcion Loren Chua last July 4 bested other contestants from all over the country with her powerful delivery of her speech entitled “Fell for Korean’s Charm.”
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.
Jannin Alegado from Cebu placed second while Angeli Marie Baclea-an from Tacloban City garnered the third spot.
The 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; Chang Eun-Gap, Head of Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines and Sarah Domingo-Lipura, Professor of Ateneo de Manila University.
TESDA Director General Secretary Joel Villanueva said that the speech contest offered 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.”
Marta Hernandez, executive director of the 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 TESDA and the Korean Cultural Center.
The contest was organized by the Korean Cultural Center in collaboration with TESDA, Korea Tourism Organization and United Korean Community Association.