Logic and wits clashed during the final rounds of the 2016 First Year (FY) Debates and Extemporaneous Dialogue Contest yesterday afternoon at room F213 of Ateneo de Davao University.
The said event is a competition annually hosted by the Ateneo Debate Varsity (ADV) during every College Days celebration.
This year’s debate competition had 9 teams from various divisions, while the extemporaneous contest had four pairs.
After the elimination rounds and the pre-final rounds of the debate contest, the teams Accountancy A (ACC A) and Social Sciences B (SS B) made it to the grand finals.
On the other hand, the pairs from the Social Sciences (SS), the Humanities and Letters (HUMLET), and the Accountancy (ACC) clusters made it to the finals for the extemporaneous contest.
For the final debate round, the two teams debated on the motion, “This House Would allow workers to give their collective bargaining rights in exchange for a higher salary,” with ACC A on the Government bench and SS B on the Opposition.
The match resulted in SS B winning over ACC A with a three-point margin difference in terms of accumulated speaker points.
Meanwhile, the finals of the extemporaneous dialogue contest had the three pairs exchange dialogues about the topic regarding whether the position ombudsmen should be an electoral post. The result ended with ACC in first place with HUMLET and SS placing in second and third, respectively.
Xenna Princess Campos, a member of the winning team, the best speaker of the grand finals, and the over-all sixth best speaker of the tournament said that the result was not just a personal victory on her part but also a victory for her division
“{I feel so] happy. [I’m] so proud not because I won, but because our division (Social Sciences) won!” Campos told Atenews.
Campos also shared that she was initially hesitant to join the competition, but the experience made her feel more confident.
“At first I was reluctant to join because I had no belief in myself, I had no faith in myself, I didn’t believe in my capacities, but joining FY debates unlocked my capacities and made me believe more in myself,” she said.
The over-all results of the competition are as follows:
Top 10 Best Speakers:
- Daniella Meking (HUMLET A)
- Marvelous Dainty Camillo (HUMLET A)
- Jessy Delos Santos (SS A); Carlo Escarda (SEA A)
- Isabel Elizaga (HUM B); Xenna Princess Campos (SS B); Victor Diola (ACC A); Nikki Delgado (ACC A)
- Queennie Comporedondo (SS B)
- Weinona Barcia (ACC A)