Being Filipino.

Thank you, Madame Evaluator, for the introduction.

Mr. Chairperson, fellow Toastmasters, good afternoon.

I thought I would introduce myself through this icebreaker speech by introducing the country
where I was born in and spent 80% of my life in: The Philippines.

What I will do is I will tell you a few pieces of information about the Philippines and its
history, and then relate that to certain bits of information about myself.

The first thing I will tell you about the Philippines, just in case some of you dont know yet, is
that it is in Southeast Asia. So yes, I am Asian. Ive known people who were surprised to hear
that, especially after hearing my name. Or after seeing that Im 6 feet tall. The average height
of Filipino males is 54. I recently saw an old photo of me with a few friends from university
and it looked like a hockey stick.

That photo of me and my friends is located in one of the many beaches around the Philippines.
It is after all a group of 7,641 tropical islands in the Northwest Pacific. Lots of sun. Lots of fun.
Lots of coconuts, bananas and pineapples. I go bananas over bananas. I eat at least two
bananas a day. But in the Philippines, there are also lots of typhoons. Which explains why I
became interested in wind engineering. The Philippines also has lots of earthquakes. Which is
why before I became interested in wind engineering, I was first interested in earthquake
engineering.

I mentioned my name not sounding very Asian. My family name is Aquino. Very un-Asian, eh?
This is mostly because The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 333 years. My full name and
many other Filipinos names are Spanish names. My wifes name is of Spanish origin as well. My
two sons names are Spanish names. My family name, Aquino, is actually quite a common one.
Weve had two presidents already with the same family name as mine. Aquino is spelled A-Q-U-
I-N-O, and we pronounce it A-kee-no, the Spanish pronunciation. But I learned that Aquino is
the name of a small town in Italy that used to be under Spanish rule. So connect the dots.
Now in Italy, they pronounce it A-kwee-no. So.. A-kee-no or A-kwee-no, it doesnt matter.

The Spaniards are also the reason why the Philippines is 80% Catholic, and 90% Christian. So
statistically speaking, any Filipino is more likely to be Catholic than not. I am Catholic. Related to
that, I studied in a Catholic school from the equivalent of Grade 1 and until I completed high
school. Heres the one other thing though: most Catholic schools in the Philippines are private,
exclusive for boys or exclusive for girls schools. Lets just say I was very happy to start university
where it was co-ed and where we did not have to wear a uniform to school everyday.
After the Spaniards left, we were under American rule for a little over 40 years. Thanks to the
Treaty of Paris, if youre familiar with that. The American occupation sort of explains why there
are many Filipinos with English or English-sounding first names like John or Analene, and why
we are one of the largest English speaking nations in the world. It is the primary language of
instruction in school. And it is commonly used in business correspondence. But at home or with
friends, we speak Filipino. All this means is that English is only my second language. But yes, we
have lots of call centers and things like that, because our accents are a little on the mild side.
Attribute that to our love for lots of things American or North American. Movies. TV Shows.
Music. I grew up watching the Simpsons and listening to bands like Nirvana and Counting
Crows. Burgers. Fried Chicken. Pizza. (Pizza!) And Basketball. As short as we are, we love
basketball in the Philippines. I myself play basketball regularly.

This American occupation has led to many families in the Philippines having at least one
relative based in the US. For me, my whole fathers side relatives are now American citizens
based in California. Ive visited them quite often, summing up to about 5% of my lifetime in the
US. So far, about 8% in Japan and the last 7% of my life here in Canada.

From 1972 through 1986, the country was under a dictatorship and our economy started its
slow decline. This is another reason why many Filipino families know someone who works
abroad or immigrated abroad, in search of greener pastures, if you will. But, this is also one
reason why we didnt even own a computer until I was already in my second year of university.
I had a term paper to write during my senior year of high school and I had to use a typewriter.
But I was super interested in computers then. The first computer we owned was an XT, I think is
what it is called. The one with a monitor with green on black. With that computer and the
programming language called BASIC, I created my first computer program, which is sort of a
personal organizer with an address book, notes, and so on. The year after, we immediately got
a newer computer and internet access. Going into chat rooms around that time, plus my
experience using typewriters, has actually made me a relatively fast typer. I average a little over
80 WPM, but its probably gone down these days.

Hopefully youve learned a thing or two about my country of origin, the Philippines, and about
myself. Two birds with one stone, eh. Thank you very much for your time.