After an intense exchange of arguments and points of information, the Accountancy (ACC) Griffins unseated last year’s victors, the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers, in the Ignatian Cup.

ACC: ACC-related team name was composed of Rian Cunanan (5th Best Speaker), Andrei Uy, and Fatmiah Abdullah (7th Best Speaker), while the SEA: Engineering masarap featured Kristian Vinluan, Christian Idoy, and Ellysse Ciano (Finals Best Speaker).

ACC Griffins’ Andrei Uy shared their strategy of focusing more on team collaboration rather than individual prowess, resulting in the team steadily cruising through the tournament. 

“We put in so much effort and so much time, we had to balance our academics…in the end, it was our teamwork and cooperation that made the dream work.”

In line with this year’s grand finals motion, he emphasized the importance of remaining optimistic despite hesitations and doubts, underscoring the need to confidently seize opportunities before the window of chance closes. 

“Confidence is key…go ahead and pass that submission form, go ahead and audition, because you will not lose anything. However, you [will] have the chance to gain everything if you [will] be confident.”

The grand finals motion probed “hiya,” a Filipino cultural concept of shame and propriety, where the ACC Griffins argued that it has no place in a modern democracy, while the SEA Tigers asserted its space on the Filipino psyche and society.

Ignatian Cup 2025 Tournament Director Lorrhaine Baintin discussed the thought process behind this year’s grand finals motion, shedding light on the culture of hiya and its subtle yet impactful presence in Filipino values and decision-making.

“Sui Generis Leadership, according to Ateneo values, wants us to occupy a lot of spaces, and part of the things that we have noticed is that occupying these spaces is largely limited by hiya… We wanted to analyze what do participants think about the role that ‘hiya’ plays within leadership spaces,” Baintin said. 

Baintin also recounted the disruptions from the series of earthquakes last October 2025, which forced a mid-finals postponement and a shift to an online tournament. 

“We were one of the most affected because we were currently having our finals series during the actual earthquake, so we had to postpone the entire thing. And because of scheduling issues, we also had to move the modality to online during the break period.”

SS Dragon hails as overall best speaker

In his last tournament before a debating hiatus, Social Sciences (SS) Dragons’ Inno Brian Plazos bagged the Overall Best Speaker award in the tournament.

With an all-tournament highest average speaker score of 76.33 throughout the preliminary rounds, Plazos rose above the 51 participants from 17 teams to emerge as the top speaker. 

Plazos attributed his enhanced skill to the series of lessons from his coaches, emphasizing that growth comes from diligence and a commitment to improvement and progress.

“The biggest thing I want to stress is the capacity to listen to your coaches and also pull your own in being able to learn from your mistakes… I found myself listening to [clips] of great outrounds from national tournaments to refine my speech formatting.”

Although SS Dragons’ debate team, SS: Contractor Development Corporation, did not qualify for break rounds, he still considered the tournament a rewarding capstone and foundation for future circuits.

“I hadn’t debated in a while before the event…I genuinely owe a lot of my personal development to the sport of debate as a whole, so it was a good last hurrah [for] me.” 

The Ignatian Cup grand finals unfolded via Discord and streamed on the Ateneo Debate Varsity (ADV) Facebook page last October 24.