USC Hosts NDC 2014
The Philippines saw the successful closing of the 16th National Debate Competition 2014 in Cebu, which took place in the Law Building of the Downtown Campus of the University of San on Oct. 29, 2014. The week-long tournament, which started on Oct. 24 was hosted by the University of San Carlos and the University of the Philippines – Cebu.
The event’s Adjudication Core composed of Jake Bustos, Victor Baguilat, Kevin Ken Sison Ganchero, Garie Ouano and Dwight Tan. Participants included teams from various schools in the Philippines, including Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), UP Diliman (UPD), San Beda College (SBC), Xavier University (XU), UPManila, Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), University of San Carlos (USC), University of Santo Tomas (UST), UPLos Baños, Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU), APM, Far Eastern University (FEU), Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU), University of San Jose- Recoletos (USJR), University of Nueva Caceres (UNC), Silliman University (SU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), UPT, UP Integrated School.
The last day’s program officially started with the Union-Cup Semi-Finals, opening with the theme of ‘Health’, and the motion: “THW (This House Would) give the World Health Organization the power to close borders.”
Six major rounds took place with six different themes argued on the floors. After the Union Cup Semi-Finals, these debates followed: Union Cup Finals with the theme justice, Octofinals with the theme terror, Quarterfinals with the theme people and the state, Semifinals with the theme development economics, and the Grand Finals with theme public trust.
The themes and motions of previous rounds that took place during the week-long tournament can be found in the Philippine Debate Union’s public Facebook page.
In the end, the ADMU A team emerged as the NDC 2014’s National Champions with their speakers Allan Cabrera and Inah Robles. Leomar Doctolero from the UPD A team placed for the Finals Best Speaker. The Grand Finalists were UPD A (Jose Escalante and Leomar Doctolero), ADMU E (JV Valerio and Andrei Buendia), and DLSU B (Jason Dizon and Avi Castano).
For the Union Cup round, SBC A emerged as champions with Karlo Antonio and Charles De Belen. The Union Cup Finals Best Speaker position was bagged by Charles De Belen of SBC A.
Master’s Cup round saw Victor Baguilat (DLSU/SBC) and Arnold Bucoy (WMSU) as champions, and Best Speaker went to Arnold Bucoy of WMSU.
Other notable persons from the PDU Executive Committee for the year 2014 to 2015 include Weston Lee as President (UPD); Mikee De Vega (DLSU) as Vice President, Stacy Conejero (UPM) as Secretary, Mike Agoncillo (ADMU) as Treasurer, Clinton Ronquillo (UPLB) as Equity Officer, Sharmie Abalayan (USI) as Adjudication Officer, Ting Purzuelo (UPI) as Communications Officer, and Vanessa Cabacungan (UST) as Publications Officer.
The NDC 2014 closed in grand style with the Grand Championship dinner at Oakridge in Banilad, from 8 p.m. on the same day.
