Forget the 2010 election for now. Somewhere in Europe, a group of young Filipinos are greeting their audience with these words: “Mabuhay! We represent the Philippines, a land where our smiles are as warm as our sunny days, a land where the contrasting cultures of the East and West somehow managed to blend splendidly, and where the exuberance of the human spirit remains unvanquished by centuries of colonization, oppression, and discrimination.

We represent a people with an extraordinary flair for living, faith in God, and trust in the boundless possibilities of human goodness. We are the UST Singers.”

The UST Singers are telling their audiences everywhere that contrary to pollsters and surveys, the Philippines is a beautiful place to live in. Perhaps, they are also subtly telling our government that if it wants to make the country a place to die for, it must invest in young people.

The UST Singers consist of 28 students from different colleges and faculties of the University. The group is headed by Prof. Fidel Gener Calalang Jr., a precocious faculty member of the UST Conservatory of Music. Since it was founded in 1992, the group has continued to impress audiences, encompassing music of different genres and from all periods. In the course of 17 years, the UST Singers has completed 16 concert tours abroad and has earned more than 45 top prizes in various international choral competition mostly in Europe, USA, and Canada.

Perhaps their greatest feat, unequalled by any local choirs is winning the CHOIR OF THE WORLD GRAND PRIZE and four First Prizes at the 49th Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, United Kingdom.

The UST Singers also represented the Philippines at the 30th Mundi Cantant International Choral Competition held at Olomouc, Czech Republic. More than 7,000 singers comprising 196 choirs from mostly European countries, vied for prizes in various categories. The only Asian choir invited to this contest, the UST Singers won First Prize in all the five categories they competed in. What is more interesting is that, for the first time in the 30-year old history of Mundi Cantant, the board of judges gave the UST Singers perfect scores (100 percent) in four categories, and 99 percent in one. Never in the previous years were such high marks given for a particular choir. This is also the first time that one choir bagged 5 first prizes.

Their most recent achievement came on April 21-24, 2010 when they won 4 first prizes in the four categories they had joined in the Bangor International Festival, described as “a jewel in the crown of choral singing in Northern Ireland. Now on its 17th year, the Bangor Festival showcased performances from local school and adult choirs in Ireland, as well as invited choirs from other countries.

Fresh from their victory in Bangor, on April 28-May 2, 2010, the UST Singers were again invited to compete in the 56th Cork International Choral Festival celebrating the very best of choral and vocal music from choirs all over the world. Again, the UST Singers, won two trophies, one for an outstanding performance of a piece in the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition, and the most coveted PEACE trophy, described by organizers as an award given to the choir “who touched the hearts of all who heard them."

The UST Singers is, indeed, a potent advertisement of our country in Europe. They are reaping honors at no expense from the government. Their superb and world-class artistry makes their audiences wonder why the Philippine media is more intent on publishing and broadcasting stories about the graft and corruption in government, the Abu Sayyaf and the politicians wrangling over election results, than about the things Filipinos can be truly proud of.