UP SPECA
The University of the Philippines Speech Communication Association more commonly known as UP SPECA is a non-sectarian, non-partisan socio-academic organization that aims to promote and increase the significance and power of Speech Communication. UP SPECA endeavors to promote speech communication as a vital discipline in the academe. It fosters the spirit of camaraderie among Speech majors. It also enhances the confidence and communication skills of its members and creates credible projects that helps the campus and the community.
UP SPECA is based in the College of Arts and Letters and its official domicile is located at the Kubo #1, Tambayan Complex, Faculty Center Hill.
History
Speech Communication Association (UP SPECA) was founded by Kenneth Jose Bajar with the help of his batchmates during AY 2000-2001. It was officially recognized by the College of Arts and Letters and the University the year after. It has been one of the most active student organizations ever since.
The organization’s main objective is to boost, promote, and increase the significance and power of speech communication using the unified mobilization of Speech majors and enthusiasts towards a better academe and community. In the spirit of camaraderie, the members of the organization work hand in hand, not only to cope with the challenges of being speech communication students, but also to foster a relevant and honorable organization that uplifts the legacy of knowledge, excellence, and leadership that bounds every “Iskolar ng Bayan” to the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
The Executive Committee and the Standing Committees
The Executive Committee is composed of the officers of the organization, namely: the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary General, the heads of the standing committees, and their assistant.
There are six Standing Committees in the organizaztion namely the Academics Committee, the Finance and Marketing Committee, the Internal Affairs Committee, the Performance Committee, the Public Relations Committee and the Recruitment Committee. Each committee performs for the organization functions related to its own particular field as it may choose to undertake on its own initiative, provided it acts only within the authority granted to them by the organization.
AY 2009 – 2010
Chairperson: Michelle Alvarez
Vice- Chairperson: Nico Paolo Arguelles
Secretary General: Muriel Linnzi Joble
Academics Committee
Head: Oscar Serquina Jr. (1st Semester)
Eileen Kae Relao (2nd Semester)
Asst: Eileen Kae Relao (1st Semester)
Ruby Chavez (2nd Semester)
Internal Affairs Committee
Head: Gary Michael Christopher Torres
Asst: Helen Lauzon
Finance and Marketing Committee
Head: Stephanie Ann Reyes
Asst: Erika Joy Araojo
Performance Committee
Head: Rhanniel Kris Baldago
Asst: Nikki Simbre
Public Relations Committee
Head: Bernadette Sese
Asst: Judith Ann Apolinario
Recruitment Committee
Head: Randell De Leon
Asst: Armand Robert Gallardo (1st Semester)
Brish Bane Marquez (2nd Semester)
Events, Projects and Other Activities
Realizing that it is only through the unified mobilization of its members that it can accomplish its main goal of promoting and increasing the significance and power of speech communication, UP SPECA regularly conducted various activities which aimed to develop teamwork, solid group dynamics, and effective organizational communication among the members. UP SPECA’s General Assemblies (usually held during the second and last Thursdays of the month, from 4pm to 530pm at the CAL New Building) often served as the primary venue to plan and evaluate activities and discuss other group concerns, as well as the venue for the members to share their ideas, opinions, and experiences with each other. Aside from this, the organization held other events, not only to help its members develop their capacity to work effectively together, but also to further enhance their skills in all areas of speech communication. Moreover, this year the organization focused on objective and subjective evaluation of activities and members.
Despite its relatively young age, UP SPECA is proud to have established and maintained a good working relationship with the CAL Student Council. During the academic year, the organization was a regular attendee in the meetings called for by the SC, as well as an active participant in a number of its activities and events.
UP SPECA is also proud of its continued existence as a relevant and honorable organization that upholds the legacy of excellence, service, and leadership that bounds every iskolar ng bayan to the University of the Philippines. Last year, UP SPECA extended even farther beyond its borders when it participated in the First Pambansang Kumperensya sa Sarsuwela.
The Organization is not only an academic organization; it is a socio-civic group as well. It has proven throughout the academic year its ability to strike a balance between promoting speech communication as a vital discipline in the academe and fulfilling its social responsibilities.
SPECA Week
Every August, UP SPECA celebrates its establishment as an organization. In line with this, different events and activities are conducted which usually culminates with the Alumni Dinner.
During its eighth year of existence, UP SPECA celebrated its anniversary with the theme "This is Eight!: UP SPECA's 8th Anniversary Celebration":
UP SPECA WEEK 2009(August 24 – 28, 2009)
o SPECA Exhibit (August 24, 2009)
The week opens with the SPECA Exhibit at the Gallery 1 of the Faculty Center. The Exhibit contains pictures and documentation of the events and activities that were accomplished by the organization in the past years.
o Speech Craft(August 25, 2009)
Speech Craft was originally an Inter-org Impromptu Public Speaking Competition. During it's seventh year anniversary back in 2008, the competition was opened to all bona fide UP students.
The theme of this year's speechcraft is "Fresh, Hot, Controversial: The Filipino Youth and Popular Culture".
o Oral Interpretation Night (August 27, 2009)
One of the most anticipated events during the SPECA Week is the Oral Interpretation Night (OI Night). It is a one night performance of different poems and pieces weaved into one whole production. This year, the event was entitled “Across the Yellow Line” and was performed at the College of Arts and Letters Atrium. It featured different themes such as love, gender, sexuality, family and death put together through the setting, an MRT station.
o Alumni Dinner (August 28, 2009)
The Alumni Dinner serves as the culminating activity of the SPECA week. It is a get together of the alumni and current members of the organization. The first ever alumni dinner was held during the organization's 7th anniversary in 2008 at the University Hotel. It featured a set of performances by the current members of the organization then. This year's alumni dinner, however was conducted at the Gallery 1 of the Faculty Center. Compared to the previous year, less performances from the current members were presented, some of the alumni also performed, testimonials from alumni of different batches were heard, awards were given such as the Benson Logronio Alumni Award, and of course games were played all throughout the night.
Annual Speech Cup
The UP SPECA Speech Cup is one of the organization's highly anticipated events.
It is an annual speech competition open to all high schools and colleges in Metro Manila and Mega Manila. It serves as a venue for the youth to express themselves through speech communication.
The UP SPECA Speech Cup originally names "Talastasan", officialy started in February 2006. It was a seminar-workshop made open to high school students about the areas of speech communication. In September of the same year, high school students battled through a speech choir competition. The following year, participants competed for the additional individual oral interpretation competition. In 2008, a public speaking competition was introduced; open to all colleges and universities. These events served as an opportunity for the youth to express themselves in both English and Filipino through Rhetoric and Performance Art.
The Competition is divided into the following categories:
Choral Recitation
Groups perform two (2) literary pieces: a show piece of the team's choice and the official contest piece provided by UP SPECA. Each group is given the chance to choose any English Piece by a Filipino author (written from 1965 - present) as their show piece so long as it is relevant to the theme.
Individual Oral Interpretation
The contest piece is pre-selected by UP SPECA upon advisement of the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts (DSCTA).
Individual Public Speaking
Each school is allowed to have only one representative for this category and the contestants are given a speech topic by UP SPECA.
The UP SPECA Speech Cup aims:
1. To promote the significance and power of speech communication.
2. To foster youth involvement in the creative and equally challenging pursuits of performance art and rhetoric.
3. To provide a venue for self expression and social responsiveness.
4. To propel the Filipinization of speech communication.
This year's Speech Cup theme is "Speak at its Peak" which focuses on the youth's involvement in socio-political issues such as the upcoming National Elections this May. The competition was held last 21st November 2009 at the Engineering Theater, Melchor Hall, UP Diliman.
Lovapaloco and A Very PERFect Love
As we all know February isn't just the month for midterms and the UP Fair, it is also a month when Valentine's Day is annually commemorated and even celebrated by couples and friends.
Valentine's Day for UP SPECA is an important event because two of its most exciting and anticipated events take place during this time, its annual Valentines Festivities namely Lovapaloco and PERFectly In Love (formerly A Very PERFect Love). The two events are headed by the Internal Affairs Committee and the Performance Committee.
Lovapaloco
Lovapaloco is a SPECA event wherein the organization is separated into two groups by gender.
It is a whole day event which usually culminates before or after PERFectly In Love. The SPECA Girls and SPECA Boys (as the members call themselves) battle each other to show what the sweetest possible thing they can offer to the opposite gender. It is an event where the members of the organization show how much they cherish each other. The 'Kilig' factor usually decides who wins the contest.
This year, the SPECA Girls prepared a hefty homemade lunch for the SPECA boys, Adobo. They also wore a dress to differentiate that day to an ordinary school day. That night, the SPECA girls sang a song and read a poem in front of the SPECA Boys. Meanwhile, the SPECA Boys wore heart pins, where the names of the each SPECA girl is written, all throughout the day. They also imitated the USC candidates by campaigning in the classes of SPECA girls. But the SPECA boys prepared more than just that, they won over the hearts of the SPECA girls through a fireworks display at the lagoon accompanied by a playing of Pachelbel's Canon in D minor in Violin. The SPECA boys also promised their unwavering love to the SPECA girls through the SPECA Boys Pledge 2010 followed by the singing of Freestyle's Before I Let You Go directed to the senior SPECA Girls who will be graduating this April.
PERFectly in Love
Another one of UP SPECA's Valentine event is PERFectly in Love spearheaded by the Performance Committee. In this event, members of the organization are asked to nominate couples, love teams and even love triangles who they want to see perform. The couple/trios with the highest votes get to perform during the event. The performers then randomly pick one performance from a list prepared by the Performance Committee.
The other half of PERFectly in Love is the Individual Performance. Aside from nominating couples, the members are also asked to nominate people who they want to see perform. But this time, the members are asked to indicate what kind of performance shall the individual do (e.g. Perform Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal and Pole Dance). People who are usually nominated in this part of the event are those who barely perform in SPECA activities.
Aside from the performance part of the event, 'kilig' and 'couple' games are also played by the members.
Intercultural Race
UP SPECA, headed by the Public Relations Committee, in cooperation with Dr. Celia Bulan's Speech 138 (Inter cultural Communication: Theory and Practice) class annually organizes an Intercultural Race where foreign and Filipino students team up to race around the UP Diliman campus. This event aims to promote the Filipino culture and tradition to foreign students and tourists.
This year's Intercultural Race was entitled The Amazing [Inter] Race. Each station were headed by each committee of the organization. Every station has a different task which aims to introduce a Filipino culture to foreign participants. Some of the stations asked the foreign students to eat balut eggs and suman while the other stations asked them to sell flowers in the vicinity. The winner of the race was decided after computing their performance in each station.
All in all, local and foreign students played together to promote Intercultural friendship and relationship.
Awards and Recognitions
• Certificate of University Recognition for AY 2009-2010
• Certificate of College Recognition for AY 2009-2010
• 2nd Runner-up, iSING: UP Sigma Delta Phi’s Inter-Org Singing Contest (March 6, 2009)
• Champion, iSING for Kids: UP Sigma Delta Phi’s Inter-Org Singing Contest (March 5, 2010)
• Finalist, Pi Sigma Debate Tournament (July 2008)
• Most Number of Attendees in the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience during the 2nd Semester AY 2009-2010 with their ACLE Hataw Na!: Expressing the Youth's Standpoint through Movement and Communication
• Certificate of Participation from the College of Arts and Letters for UP SPECA’s participation in the Pambansang Komperensya sa Sarsuwela
• Certificate of Participation from the College of Arts and Letters for UP SPECA’s participation in the National Speech Communication Conference (October 21 – 23, 2009)
• Pinakamahusay na Organisasyong Pang-estudyante sa Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura, UP DILIMAN AY 2008-2009 (April 25, 2009)
Best CAL Org
As a socio-academic organization which fosters speech communication as a field of higher learning and as an important facet of our everyday lives, the University of the Philippines Speech Communication Association (UP SPECA) has been actively spearheading and involving itself in various activities and projects that are deemed beneficial to both the academe and the community. Since its founding in the academic year 2000-2001, UP SPECA has established itself as one of the leading
organizations in the UP College of Arts and Letters (CAL) and in the whole University as well, which openly renders its service and manpower whenever the need arises. For the past years, UP SPECA has been organizing seminars, competitions, workshops, and conferences that further the study of speech communication- all of which, most especially those organized this year, have gotten overwhelming feedback from the UP community as well as from participating schools outside the University.
UP SPECA prides itself as one of the most competent and dynamic CAL organizations. With a total of 70 official members to its name, UP SPECA views its affiliates as assets rather than liabilities, which it can maximize, develop, and rely on as it pursues feasible venues, productive programs, and viable plans for the future. All throughout the year, UP SPECA has been able to employ its members to organize and participate in a variety of academic and social activities that have involved not only students of UP but all those who are willing to partake and share the same interests. Such activities include the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) held in both semesters, the UP SPECA Speech Craft (a public speaking contest open to all UP students), gadget, brand and food sales, and the successful UP SPECA Speech Cup 2008 which showcased various Metro and Mega Manila high schools and colleges and their talents in solo and group oral interpretation and extemporaneous public speaking.
Apart from enriching its experiences by helping in various academic pursuits in the college and in the university, UP SPECA also believes that there are people more in need outside the confines of the UP. Being a socio-civic organization as well, it has also extended its services by organizing visits and performances for the Comfort Women at La Lila Filipina and the cancer patients at the East Avenue Medical Center Cancer Ward. Some of its members also joined the Rotaract Club of Wack Wack, the youth counterpart of the Rotary Club which is a worldwide organization that aims to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
UP SPECA reached several milestones this academic year. As the organization matures through time, the tasks that it tries to handle have also become bigger in scope and more challenging. This year, the organization had a week-long celebration of its 8th anniversary which culminated in the second UP SPECA Alumni Homecoming. Moreover, it has successfully conducted one of the organization's major events, the UP SPECA Speech Cup last November. It has also assisted the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts in its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration.
Given these major accomplishments of UP SPECA, the organization stands tall as a student organization that is committed in serving its mother department, the college, the University, and the Filipino community. Its mission to promote the significance and power of speech communication remains unwavering as it faces the daunting challenges and abundant opportunities that come on its way. While confronted with the dynamicity of our everyday lives, UP SPECA never stops in enhancing itself to be the best in its field. Fueled by the core values and thrusts that have guided and molded it throughout its eight years of existence, it continuously moves forward for the betterment of the people that it serves.
UP SPECA believes that human communication is pervasive in our society, and that people should be giving much premium in improving it. It is with this belief that UP SPECA steps up as a student organization that plays an essential and critical role in promoting and maintaining a harmonious communicative experience among people. In a world where too many stories are left untold and too many voices left unheard, UP SPECA chooses to come to the fore, break silence, and take on the challenge of recounting the unutterable narratives, the unspoken truths, and the unrealized awareness that people should be rightful of knowing.
See Also
The UP SPECA Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1254115320522&saved#!/pages/UP-SPECA/349707340312?ref=ts
Official Website: http://speca.tk/
Multiply Site: http://upspeca07.multiply.com/