From left to right: Vanessa Kate Madrazo and Trisha Aliya Dulanas holding the championship trophy. Photo taken from the Facebook page of Reese Marban
Over 100 competing debaters and adjudicators took part in the first Mindanao Intervarsity (MIV) held at Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City, last Nov. 25-27. The participants of the competition hailed from various cities across the country. The said event was an open tournament which adopted the British-Parliamentary debate format.
Each round consists of four teams composed of two people which divide the house into four: Opening Government (OG), Closing Government (CG), Opening Opposition (OO) and Closing Opposition (CO).
Competing teams were allowed to be composed of two people from either the same institution or differing universities. Debaters who have already graduated were also allowed to participate.
The preliminary rounds consisted of five matches. The result was that 16 out of 48 teams proceeded to the final series, two of which came from Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU). Also, approximately half of the number of the competing adjudicators passed in the said competition.
Near the tournament’s conclusion, four composite teams from various universities faced off in the grand finals, one of which was an AdDU alumni team composed of Trisha Aliya Dulanas and Vanessa Kate Madrazo who debated as OO. Dulanas and Madrazo were collectively known as Team Vaness Who.
The teams debated on the motion, “This House believes that Duterte is not a legitimate figurehead of Mindanao’s identity & aspirations” with team Hardvard A as OG, team Brangelina as CG and Team to Busan as CG.
A seven-man panel judged the round. The decision was a 5-1-1 split in favor of the OO, making Dulanas and Madrazo the first champions of the 1st Mindanao Intervarsity.