Declamation

Alms, alms, alms. Spare me a piece of bread. Spare me your mercy. I am a child so young, so thin, and so ragged.Why are you staring at me? With my eyes I cannot see but I know that you are all staring at me. Why are you whispering to one another? Why? Do you know my mother? Do you know my father? Did you know me five years ago?

Yes, five years of bitterness have passed. I can still remember the vast happiness mother and I shared with each other. We were very happy indeed.

Suddenly, five loud knocks were heard on the door and a deep silence ensued. Did the cruel Nippon’s discover our peaceful home? Mother ran to Father’s side pleading. “Please, Luis, hide in the cellar, there in the cellar where they cannot find you,” I pulled my father’s arm but he did not move. It seemed as though his feet were glued to the floor.

The door went “bang” and before us five ugly beasts came barging in. “Are you Captain Luis Santos?” roared the ugliest of them all. “Yes,” said my father. “You are under arrest,” said one of the beasts. They pulled father roughly away from us. Father was not given a chance to bid us goodbye.

We followed them mile after mile. We were hungry and thirsty. We saw group of Japanese eating. Oh, how our mouths watered seeing the delicious fruits they were eating,

Then suddenly, we heard a voice call, “Consuelo. . . . Oscar. . . . Consuelo. . . . Oscar. . . . Consuelo. . . . Oscar. . . .” we ran towards the direction of the voice, but it was too late. We saw father hanging on a tree. . . . dead. Oh, it was terrible. He had been badly beaten before he died. . . . and I cried vengeance, vengeance, vengeance! Everything went black. The next thing I knew I was nursing my poor invalid mother.

One day, we heard the church bell ringing “ding-dong, ding-dong!” It was a sign for us to find a shelter in our hide-out, but I could not leave my invalid mother, I tried to show her the way to the hide-out.

Suddenly, bombs started falling; airplanes were roaring overhead, canyons were firing from everywhere. “Boom, boom, boom, boom!” Mother was hit. Her legs were shattered into pieces. I took her gently in my arms and cried, “I’ll have vengeance, vengeance!” “No, Oscar. Vengeance, it’s God’s,” said mother.

But I cried out vengeance. I was like a pent-up volcano. “Vengeance is mine not the Lord’s”. “No, Oscar. Vengeance is not ours, it’s God’s” these were the words from my mother before she died.

Mother was dead and I was blind. Vengeance is not ours? To forgive is divine but vengeance is sweeter. That was five years ago, five years. . . .

Alms, alms, alms. Spare me a piece of bread. Spare me your mercy. I am a child so young, so thin, and so ragged. Vengeance is not ours, it’s God’s. . . . It’s. . . . God’s. . It’s…

Oration - Because of What We Are of What We Believe Ms. Tina Dela Cruz

For every generation, there is a destiny. For some, history decides. For this generation, the choice must be our own.

Our destiny in the midst of change will rest on the changed character of our people and on their faith.

In a land of great wealth, families must not live in hopeless poverty.

In a land rich in harvest, children must not be hungry.

In a land of healing miracles, neighbors must not suffer and die untended.

In a great land of learning and scholars, young people must be taught to read and write.

How incredible it is that in this fragile existence, we should hate and destroy one another. There are possibilities enough for all who will abandon mastery; others to pursue mastery over nature. There is world enough for all to seek their happiness in their own way.

We have discovered that every child who learns, and every man who finds work, and every sick body that is made whole – like a candle added to an altar – brightens the hope of all the faithful.

So let us reject any among us, who seek to reopen old wounds, and rekindle old hatreds. They stand in the way of a seeking nation.

Let us join reason to faith and action to experience, to transform our unity of interest into a unity of purpose. To achieve change without hatred; not without difference of opinion but without the deep and abiding divisions which scar the union for generations.

Under the covenant of justice, liberty and union, we have become a nation. And we have kept our freedom.

It is the excitement of becoming – always becoming, trying, probing, resting, and trying again but always gaining.

If we fail now, then we will have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship; that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more that it gives.

If we succeeded, it will not be because of what we have, but it will be because of what we are; not because of what we own, but rather because of what we believe.

For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of buildings and the rush of our day’s pursuits, we are the believers in justice and liberty and union. And in our own union we believe that every man must some day be free. And we believe in ourselves.

For this is what our country is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed bridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground.

Is our world gone? We say farewell, is a new world coming? We welcome it – and we will bend it to the hopes of man.

But you must look within your own hearts to the old promises and to the old dreams. They will lead you the best of all.

I Will Persist Until I Succeed by Og Mandino

I was not delivered unto this World in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.

The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner.

I will be likened to the rain drop which washes away the mountain, the ant that devours a tiger, the star which brightens the earth, and the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking. I will persist until I succeed.

I will never consider defeat and I will remove from my vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless, and retreat. I will avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should infect me then I will work on in despair. I will toil and I will endure.

I will remember the ancient law of averages and I will bend it to my good. Each frown I meet only prepares me for the smile to come. Each misfortune I encounter I will carry in it the seed of tomorrow’s good luck. I must have the night to appreciate the day. I must fail often to succeed only once. I will persist until I succeed.

Never will I allow any day to end with a failure. Thus I will plant the seed of tomorrow’s success and gain an insurmountable advance over those who cease their labor at a prescribed time. When others cease their struggle, then mine will begin, and my harvest will be full.

Nor will I allow yesterday’s success to lull me into today’s complacency, for this is the greatest foundation of failure. I will forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of my life.

So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist? For I know one of the greatest principles of success – if I persist long enough, I will win.

I will persist! I will win!

Believe You Can Succeed and You will by David J. Schwart

Success means many wonderful, positive things. Success means personal prosperity: a fine home, vacations, travel, new things, financial security, giving your children maximum advantages, etc… Success means winning admiration, leadership, being looked up to by people in your business and social life. Success means freedom: freedom from worries, fears, frustrations, and failure. Success means self-respect, continually finding more real happiness and satisfaction from life, being able to do more for those who depend on you.

Success means winning!

Success-achievement is the goal of life!

Every human being wants success. Everybody wants the best this life can deliver. Nobody enjoys crawling, living in mediocrity. No one likes feeling second-class and feeling forced to go that way.

Some of the most practical success-building wisdom is found in that Biblical quotation stating that ‘faith can move mountains.’ Believe, really believe, that you can move a mountain and you can! Not many people believe that they can move mountains. So, as a result, not many people do.

On some occasion you’ve probably heard some say something like, “it’s nonsense to think you can make a mountain, move away.’ It’s simply impossible.”

People who think this way have belief confused with wishful thinking. And true enough, you can’t wish away a mountain. You can’t wish yourself into an executive suite. Nor can you wish yourself into a five-bedroom, three-bath house or the high-income brackets. You can’t wish yourself into a position of leadership.

But you can move a mountain with belief. You can win success by believing you can succeed. There is nothing neither magical nor mystical about the power of belief.

Belief works this way. Belief, the “I’m positive-I-can” attitude, generates the power, skill, and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.

Everyday all over the world, young people start working in new jobs. Each of them “wishes” that someday he could enjoy the success that goes by reaching the top. But the majority of these young people simply don’t have the belief that it takes the top rungs. And they don’t reach the top. Believing it’s impossible to climb high, they do not discover the steps that lead to great heights. Their behavior remains that of the “average” person.

But a small number of these young people really believe they will succeed. They approach their work with the “I’m going-to-the-top” attitude. And with substantial belief they reach the top. Believing they will succeed – and that it’s not impossible – these folks study and observe the behavior of senior executives. They learn how successful people approach problems and make decisions. They observe the attitudes of successful people.

Those who believe they can move mountains, do. Those who believe that they can’t, cannot. Belief triggers the power to do. Belief in great results is the driving force, the power behind all great books, plays, scientific discoveries. Belief in success is behind every successful business, church, and political organization. Belief in success is the one basic, absolutely essential ingredient in successful people.

Believe, really believe, you can succeed and you will!