Third time’s a charm.
Accountancy Griffins trio Nero Tajan, Jhane Jandayan, and Melvin Matus finally secured a title after two years of heartbreaking loss in the past debate competitions as they dominated the Ignatian Cup 2020 Grand Finals against SEA Tigers in this year’s 72nd Ateneo Fiesta.
The Griffins, who were on the Government side, proudly defended the motion “THW rather be imprisoned than back down from the protest” while Engineering and Architecture team of Ardee Dioso, Alea Shane Diamoda, and Troy Duallo argued for the Opposition.
Finals Best Speaker Tajan shared that familiarity contributed a lot to the success of their team as they were able to complement each other’s weaknesses and strengths.
“… one of the factors that I can attribute to our success was being familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It enabled us to build on each other’s forte and fill the gaps in between. I guess two years of team cohesiveness pay off after all,” expresses Tajan.
He also mentioned that their team stayed in one area to easily communicate to one another.
“Having the awareness that active exchange of dialogue is necessary when preparing arguments, our team decided to convene at Melvin’s [Matus] residence while observing quarantine protocols. By doing so, we were able to utilize our time wisely before the commencement of each round,” he added.
Ateneo Debate Varsity (ADV) President Brian Unabia cited that the flexibility of competitive debating speaks volume to the success of the event despite experiencing online challenges.
“The good thing about competitive debating, however, is that it is very flexible. It can be done either physically or online. Debaters do not need to be physically present because the nature of the activity primarily relies on words and voice,” says Unabia.
He further explained that debate competitions should continuously be held especially at this time of pandemic where social and political issues continue to be rampant to have the platform of ‘critical environment that encourages civil discourse’.
“I’d say we need debate even more during this challenging time where socio-political issues have been exposed to the open. This pandemic has exposed the deeply-entrenched inconsistencies and failures of government policies and social institutions,” he added.
The Business and Management team of Jared Bangcaya, Ashley Hernandez, and Lawrenzo Baldove completed the podium as they grabbed third place.
The other individual awards include The Top 10 Best Speakers of the Tournament where Justine Buhia from Social Sciences cluster was hailed as the overall best speaker.