Mahigit 100 batang may talento bilang debater at public speakers mula sa iba’t-ibang paaralan sa loob at labas ng Bicol ang inaasahang makikibahagi sa first online Bicol-wide public speaking workshop and competition na ipinangalan kay opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima sa Marso 27, mula ala-1:00 ng hapon hanggang alas-7:00 ng gabi, via Zoom video conference.
Tinatawag itong “Leila de Lima Cup,” na sinimulan ng Universidad de Sta. Isabel (USI) Libertas & Debate Society na may temang “Amplifying our Voices through Public Speaking,” kung saan may mga nagpatalang participants mula sa junior high school, senior high school at college levels.
Ayon sa USI Debate Society, isinusog ito sa pangalan ni De Lima, hindi lang dahil sa abilidad ng mambabatas sa public speaking kundi maging ang tapang nito na magsalita lalo na sa isyu ng injustice.
“Leila de Lima is a public servant, a Bicolana, a speaker, a legislator, but most importantly, she is a woman who carried the blood of women before her, who carried the weight off oppression from men who were threatened by the power she holds.”
“She is a woman who was silenced for being vocal, for being critical, for standing out. She was defamed and scandalized by men who ruled the walls of power,” wika pa ng USI Debate Society.
“There is a Leila de Lima in you and every one of us. That is exactly why she is the perfect figure of public speaking that defies the odds and rises above the shackles to tremble the incompetence in public office,” dagdag pa nila.
Inaasahan din sa aktibidad ang ilang speakers, katulad nina Hans Xavier Wong, Executive Secretary ng Philippine Debate Union (PDU) at youth petitioner against Anti-Terror Law; Mikee De Vega, dating PDU President; at Bobby Quitain, lawyer, law professor at Catholic lay preacher.
Dahil nakapiit pa ang senadora, ang kaniyang kapatid na si Vicente “Vicboy” M. de Lima II, ang siyang magbibigay ng mensahe para sa mga kalahok sa event.
