The Boy Who Stutters

I was invited by my alma mater to be the guest speaker at their high school graduation and moving-up ceremony last March 30, 2026. Below are the introduction they wrote and edited for me, and the edited transcription of my full speech with the slides I used as part of the presentation.  [Pasasalamat kay Tr. Justine for all the assistance at kina Daniel A., Marc A., Cath A., and Nics B. sa critique at input] Photo from JILS Facebook Page INTRODUCTION (by Earla Mari D. Isidro) Classmates, parents, guardians, JILS faculty and staff, administrators, and our special guests, good evening.  Our Guest of Honor and Speaker this evening is a distinguished writer, editor, and film producer who graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from the University of the Philippines Diliman. During his college years, he demonstrated exemplary leadership as Secretary-General from 2020 to 2021 and later as President from 2021 to 2022 of UP Cinema, a premier student film organization....

[TRANSCRIPT; EDITED FULL SPEECH]  Hello. Ako si Ace, apo ni Anselmo. Nagsulat ako sa Quezon City bago umuwi dito kahit hindi ko sigurado kung may pagkakataon para magsalita o sabihin ang anomang masusulat ko.  Nagsulat ako bilang paraan ng pagproseso sa nangyari. Kakabalik ko lang ng QC nung isang buwan matapos ang dalawang taon simula nung naglockdown.   Ako ay nag-aaral ng pelikula at nagsusulat tungkol sa pelikula. Hayaan niyo kong magkwento gamit ang pormang pinagkakadalubhasaan ko.  Sequence 1. Interior. Bedroom ng condo. Day. Nagising ako nang walang alarm. Napagdesisyunan ko nung gabi na tanggalin,kasi ilang araw na akong banas sa tunog niya. Bumaba mula sa taas ng double deck, isang bedspace na aking inuupuhan. Tumingin sa celpon. Alas otso palang pala ng umaga. Maaga ito kesa sa alas diez na alarm at paggising ko kadalasan. Binuksan ko ang mobile data para maging online at nagsimulang tumunog at dumating ang mga mensahe. Cut to: Sequence 2. Interior. Ku...

They say, “Promises are meant to be broken”; I say – that shouldn’t be the case when the people’s lives and the nation’s future are at stake. The power of promises and such declaration is extremely misused for personal and selfish interest of politicians running for office. History proves that they have utilized rhetoric speeches in order to convince, or to put it bluntly – to lure the electorate or all the people who have the power to vote in an election. We should learn from this and begin making these politicians accountable for their broken and false promises by suing them for non-fulfillment of platforms which they officially declared during campaigns. “If elected president, give me about three to six months, I will get rid of corruption, drugs and criminality,”  sounds familiar? Can we say that 16 million Filipinos fell for this? We can only guess, right? Politicians can give strong words as much as they wish, from promising changes to ambitious projects that really cli...

Hi, first of all, no one actually called me R except for one person. This person used to love me and I used to love so dearly… before. That despite who I am and what I am, she accepted me but she belongs to the past now. That’s why I finally let other people call me that way; that’s my way to remember her. But I didn’t lie when I introduced myself as the boy who stutters because obviously, I do. This was worse when I was younger. I used to say "Ma-ma-ma'am, mememe-may I go to the cr?” I had this helpless facial expression that people find difficult to see. But little did they know how difficult it was, how difficult it is to be me. I’m not going to make this dramatic as it seems. I’m a changed person now or so I thought. I used to be depressed in high school that I isolated myself from people. I usually got anxious every time there is a reporting, recitation, or speech. Well, I still do now. I have stage fright. The idea of speaking in front and especially holding a damn ...

So for my valediction, I only prepared a page. One page. Since the last time I spoke here, it was 8 pages long. I would not do that again this time. So yes, just one page for tonight. But before I start my speech, let me thank the people who have been a part of this journey: Thank you, my friends, my classmates, my teachers, and my family. Thank you for you have made me a better person. I hope I made you proud. Thank you, Tr. Glo for providing this school. We owe you so much. I learned so well from you. Thank you for all the opportunities you have given me.  To my mentors, thank you very much! To Tr. Rachel , you're such a life changer and an eye-opener for me. I’m grateful for I have met you. And I'm going to say this with conviction, the school needs more teacher like you. To Sir Myrold , I missed you. You are proof that in every successful student, there’s a great teacher behind. To Sir SJ and Tr. Rizza , thank you for being there when I need you! I...

“Good day everyone! Now, I am standing right here in front of you to deliver a speech to my fellow stutterers. I once imagined myself delivering a speech to my fellow stutterers and right now, I am definitely sure that this is a real one and not an imagination. I don’t know where to begin with but there’s one thing I’m sure about; to share my experiences in having this kind of condition to the people I always care for and to the people who need an inspiration, as well. When I was a child, I have no idea that I have this condition, stuttering. I am not aware that I speak that way until the people around me started to tease me, to make fun and laugh at me. As a child, I had many burdens to the people around me but of course, it was a childish act. I encountered several people and most of them teased me after hearing how I speak. I had a hard time coping with situation like that but as I grew up, I learned how to handle situations like that, and I realized that I’m different. I just ...

Good Evening, respectable guest, Prof. Violeta V. Quintana, Mrs. Gloria N. Lontoc, the directress and principal of JILS, JILS board of directors, our beloved parents, teachers, friends, and fellow graduates, once again good evening to all of you! Tonight, we are about to witness the ending and the new beginning of our better life. To my fellow graduates, I hope we’ll be a better person after this big memorable event. Looking back, the six years that I spent here was so much wonderful. I saw the changes of JILS. I met new people, new classmates, and new teachers. I grew here in JILS. Here at JILS, you’re not only taught how to write essays and a paragraph, read poems, solving math equations, we learned how to share our talents and knowledge and how to be confident with it. We are molded to be a leader, a model and an inspiration to others. I think I deserve to be the valedictorian of this class, despite the way I speak, kinaya ko pa rin. I know I did my best to make it. ...