After a six-year hiatus from joining off-campus competitions, UST Sinagtala, the official theatre and performing arts organization of the University of Santo Tomas Senior High School, roared back to life as they emerged as champion of the UP Speech Communication Association (UP SPECA) Speech Cup’s Sabayang Pagbigkas category.

Tinig Tomasino, the competing name of the organization, is composed of 20 performing members. They secured UST Sinagtala’s first-ever championship title in the history of its participation in speech-choir competitions.

Claire Mediatrix Gelera and Anne Rafaella Luciño, the co-captains of the group, told TomasinoWeb that winning the competition felt “surreal.”

“It was surreal, knowing that this was like the first competition [that the team joined after six years]. So malalaki ‘yung [naramdaman] naming pressure,” Luciño said.

“Narating namin siya, kahit sobrang hirap. It was really a moment of ‘we did it,’” Gelera added.

UP SPECA’s chosen theme for the event was “Makabagong Makata, Bakit Ka Tumutula,” which aims to call for collective action in facing environmental problems in the country while also capturing the struggles of Filipinos facing calamities.

Tinig Tomasino’s Costume

After reviewing the Sabayang Pagbigkas piece they were set to perform, Luciño said that the team and the coaching staff collaborated in conceptualizing and designing their garments to complement the theme of their performance.

They incorporated cultural elements into their costume, such tattoos used by Philippine ethnic groups to symbolize their identity. They also executed a reveal to highlight the message of their performance.

“Each member has their own character and their costume represents the character's life. So, talagang lahat kami may nirepresenta, may pinaglalaban, at may binibigyang boses,” Luciño said.

As co-captains, Gelera said that both of them pushed for Tinig Tomasino to return to the competing field. Despite the six-year hiatus due to the pandemic and “issues with paperwork and the admin,” the group was determined to mount a “grand comeback.”

Both captains also expressed their gratitude to the coaching staff, who were also alumni of the organization and competed for the past seasons, for lending their time in guiding their batch towards the elusive championship title.

“Sila [coaching staff] talaga yung nagturo sa amin kung paano maging artista,kung paano gumalaw sa stage,at kung paano umarte at gumalaw na may purpose,” Luciño said. “Nandoon sila to motivate us to push our character, to push our artistic selves to its limits.”