bulol ka ba?

      "If I'm King, where's my power? Can I form a government? Can I levy a tax, declare a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority. Why?  Because the nation believes that when I speak, I speak for them. But I  can't speak."  One of my favorite quotes from the film "King's Speech" 

The movie tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.

I guess the closest Filipino word  that can be associated with stammering, or stuttering, is "bulol" or "may pagkabulol"

  While watching the film,  I remember when i was younger  i admit  i am somewhat  "bulol "I had fear of public speaking even inside the classroom.  when i delivered my speech during third year high school recognition day, i felt my speech as first honors was a disaster because of my nervousness. I heard several negative reactions particularly in the "clarity" aspect. i then enrolled in speech clinic that summer in preparation for a possible valedictory speech the next school year.

 Many famous people and some singers are also afflicted with stuttering and were able to stop stuttering.

During the 2010 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Noynoy Aquino received 36 claps and 6 instances of pagka-bulol within his 36 min speech. Thus, P-Noy has an average of 1 clap per minute, and he is  /"nabubulol" every 6 minutes during his SONA.

Stuttering is a common type of speech disorder, which is much like lisping, except you have trouble getting words out, or repeat them over and over.Stuttering has been known to have high negative impacts on hundreds of people, which sometimes results in self-abuse or in cases, even suicide. If you stutter, you may feel depressed, alone, or angry at yourself.

Experts say that the most effective was to address this issue is to find the cause,how it can be controlled, and how to live with it. Understand that it doesn't reflect your intelligence or mean that you are stupid or disabled.

Demosthenes, a Greek thinker, used to speak with rocks in his mouth to improve his stuttering. Hmmm i guess it might be worth trying with something clean, safe and edible, such as cookies or ice cubes. Be careful!

 Most likely your friends and family know you stutter, so practice reading something aloud. As soon as you stutter, restart, this time at a slower speed. One method that helps control stuttering is slowing down, and holding your stomach out, while at the same time sucking in. This helps control your voice, and your tone.At the beginning of a sentence, make the A or E longer, than the other words. Practice with sentence: "Adam likes to eat apples and earthworms."

One of the exercises done was to have a conversation with yourself in front of the mirror. It may sound silly, but it does help by overexaggerating the words as I  speak.

Overcoming  pagkabulol is really a challenge for me  due to my initiial fear of public speaking. However,  through the years, public speaking became part of my legal profession. I love sharing my legal knowledge to others. At present, I am   a  lecturer on trademark law as well as international maritime law (Maritime Labor Convention 2006) for the MCLE. I likewise conduct Paralegal Seminars on   Legal Rights of the Seafarers in coordination with the church-based Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) all over the Philippines involving the almost a hundred maritime schools as well as the migrants' desk of diocese or parish, or any seafarers’ wives/families groups. The biggest crowd i had was in Antique with almost a thousand maritime students inside their gym.