I am Juan de la Cruz. I am a fighter by blood and a believer by heart. I live in a free country.

Although I
may have a small voice, I have a big dream- a dream to master the art of spear.

To live in a vast world of globally competent people is to let a Juan de la Cruz abide by the rule of the
jungle that is the survival of the fittest and the elimination of the unfit. In order to survive, Juan must
master the art of spear- the spear that will make him invincible, the spear that will help him emerge as
king, the spear that is known today as English Proficiency.

But what is English Proficiency? What does it do to help Juan in this crisis-laden world? Ladies and
gentlemen, this is the skill in using the English language. This will bring Juan closer to excellence-
excellence in quenching his thirst for global competitiveness, and excellence in proving his worth.
Furthermore, we might ask, why would Juan dream of this excellence? Let us not shut our eyes to the
tragic reality that Juan de la Cruz is left behind, that he is amidst political feuds, religious warfare and
illiteracy battle in using lingua franca, English. This tragic reality is greatly manifested in a recent study
by the Call Center Association of the Philippines where call centers hire less than 5% of 100 Filipino
applicants due to their poor English skills. Moreover, according to the Department of Education, only 7%
of graduating high school students had mastered English. This then threw back the blame to the quality of
instruction in schools and had been proven when it had been said in the 2000 Philippine Human
Development Report of the United Nations that would-be-teachers have poor English Language skills and
scored lowest in English of all subjects in their licensure exam
.
Friends if this decline continues, to what direction shall Juan move? Let Juan be equipped with the
English skill, let his voice be raised to a higher decibel that it reaches out to others in responding to our
own struggle and efforts to eradicate all forms of discrimination. In doing so, we must evidently speak our
mind but in a such way that foreign people may understand us and eventually join as in our battle. If only
we could beat this English Proficiency crisis, we could penetrate through foreign conversations and we
could survive in the global market. Through English may be another language, it doesn’t mean that we are
depriving Juan of his native tongue but letting him see the purpose of speaking so.

Many people may know that the English language but few are great. If Juan will be one of those few, it
would be such an immense deal of honor and pride. If he would prove his worth, he shall see himself
invincible and unconquerable. That even if he is in the middle of the jungle he shall be ready and brave to
take on challenges - the mastering of the art of spear.