Enrichment05_MIDTERM

Enrichment

Below is a declamation peace by Raul Manglapus. He was appointed as the Philippines’ youngest-ever
foreign minister in 1957, and was elected to a national senate seat by a landslide in 1961. He ran for President in
1965, but lost to late president Ferdinand Marcos. Manglapus returned to the foreign affairs post in 1987 as a
member of the cabinet of President Corazon Aquino. A statesman of towering stature, he is best summed up by a
Philippine newspaper columnist as “…the best President we never had.”

Recite this piece together with your group. Do not forget to take video with it. Rubric is posted below.

Land of Bondage, Land of the Free

by Raul Manglapus

(October 20, 1918 — July 25, 1999)

Once upon a time, the tao owned a piece of land. It was all he owned. But he cherished it, for it gave him three
things, having which, he was content: life, first of all, and liberty, and happiness.

Then one day the Spaniard came and commanded him to pay tribute to the crown of Spain. The tao paid tribute.
And he was silent — he was certain that he was still the master of his land.

The Spaniard became rich. But with riches, evil entered into him and he came to the tao a second time. He read to
the tao a formidable document saying: “According to this decreto real, which unfortunately you cannot read, this
that you have been paying me is not tribute but rent, for the land is not yours but mine.” The tao paid tribute and
said nothing … He ceased to be a freeman. He became a serf. Still the tao held his peace. The rent went up and up.
The tao starved.

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 Enrichment05_MIDTERM

And this time at last he spoke. Not in words, but with that rustic instrument with which he cleared the land once
his own — the bolo. He transformed it from an instrument of tillage to an instrument of death, and with it drove
away the stranger. Then he returned to his field saying: “Now indeed shall I again be master of this land, once my
own, but stolen from me by the trickery of quicker wits than mine.”

But the tao was wrong. For the land had another master. This time not a stranger, but his own countryman grown
rich. The tao had a new name, kasama, which to us means partner, but which to the tao meant still a slave, for once
more he suffered from his countrymen the same things he had suffered from the stranger: the rents, the usury, and
all the rest of it.

Yes, the tao returned to his field thinking that he was free. But he soon discovered that he was still a prisoner. His
prison, a two-room shack, rent by every wind, without any comforts, except tht three families have there the
privilege to starve. The tao’s home has become his very prison. Its doors, if you can call them such, are wide open.
It is a prison nonetheless. For the tao is bound to it, not with chains of steel, but with a stronger chain — his honor.
To this day, the tao remains a slave, a prisoner of the usurer.

No wonder, then that tao, being a slave, has acquired the habits of a slave. No wonder that after three centuries in
chains, without freedom, without hope, he should lose the erect and fearless posture of the freeman, and become
the bent, misshapen, indolent, vicious, pitiful thing that he is! Who dares accuse him, who dares rise up in
judgement against this man, reduced to this sub-human level by three centuries of oppression? The tao does not
come here tonight to be judged — but to judge! Hear then his accusation and his sentence:

I indict the Spanish encomendero for inventing taxes impossible to bear.

I indict the usurer for saddling me with debts impossible to pay.

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I indict the irresponsible radical leaders who undermine, with insidious eloquence, the confidence of my kind in
our government.

You accuse me of not supporting my family. Free me from bondage, and I shall prove you false.

You accuse me of ignorance. But I am ignorant because my master finds it profitable to keep me ignorant. Free me
from bondage, and I shall prove you false.

You accuse me of indolence. But I am indolent not because I have no will, but because I have no hope. Why
should I labor, if all the fruits of my labor go to pay an unpayable debt? Free me from bondage, and I shall prove
you false.

Give me land. Land to own. Land unbeholden to any tyrant. Land that will be free. Give me land for I am starving.
Give me land that my children may not die. Sell it to me, sell it to me at a fair price, as one freeman sells to
another and not as a usurer sells to a slave. I am poor, but I will pay it! I will work, work until I fall from
weariness for my privilege, for my inalienable right to be free!

BUT IF YOU WILL NOT GRANT ME THIS … If you will not grant me this last request, this ultimate demand,
then build a wall around your home … build it high! … build it strong! Place a sentry on every parapet! … for I
who have been silent these three hundred years will come in the night when you are feasting, with my cry and my
bolo at your door. And may God have mercy on your soul!

CRITERIA 20-16 15-11 10-6 5-1

The student has completely The student has almost The student has The student has not
MEMORIZATION memorized his or her piece. completely memorized his partially memorized memorized his or her
or her piece. his or her piece. piece of literature.

INTERPRETATIO The student's movements are The student may sway, rock Slouches and/or The student rocks,
N/ practiced and planned. All of or use inappropriate body does not look at the sways or leans
his or her movements language, but makes an audience during the against board or other
enhance the literary piece. attempt to connect with presentation. object. He or she

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Outstanding eye contact audience. Effective eye lacks practice or

BODY
with audience contact with audience. effort. No eye contact
LANGUAGE
with audience.

Student's recitation of the The student recited the poem The student takes The student has
poem is natural; no with reasonable pauses that minimal pauses or noticeable pauses
unwarranted pauses. do not interfere with the breaks. between words and
FLUENCY natural flow of the writing. Mispronounces 1-2 struggles with proper
words. pronunciation. The
student restarts
multiple times.

The student is loud enough
to be heard and uses voice
inflection to enhance his or
VOICE
her piece. The audience feels
more connected because of
inflection.
The student can be heard but
is soft and not audible. There
is some or very little voice
inflection.
The student can be The student's voice is
heard but is at times soft and can not be
quite soft and not heard by audience.
audible. There is There is no voice
some or very little inflection.
voice inflection.

Speaks clearly and distinctly
all (95%-100%) of the time,
SPEAKS and does not mispronounce
CLEARLY any of the words
Speaks clearly and distinctly Speaks clearly and Often mumbles or
all (95%-100%) of the time, distinctly most cannot be understood
but mispronounces no more (85%-94%) of the OR mispronounces
than one word time, but more than one word.
mispronounces no
more than one word

Total Score: 100 points

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