You can only have one aim per debate. Get a three and never settle for a doughnut.
The competitive spirit of our STEFTI Debaters who grappled on end to gain the 6th spot in the Preliminary Phase of the Philippine Schools Debate Championship proved that despite the lack of experience and professional training, they can still aim for what all the other teams cherished to reach. To be able to break into the Final Series is a great accomplishment but to reach the Quarterfinals among all teams in the provinces throughout the country is an outstanding feat. That is because, relentlessly, they refuse to get a zero in any round.
oppose the Church’s sanctioned blessing ceremonies.
Team C composed of 12th graders Wilben Sebastian A. Ong and Julia Francesca A. Serdoncillo, broke 6th among the 35 teams who qualified for the Finals Series. They triumphed at Octo Finals then competed to finish the tournament as Quarterfinalists. Ong also went home with a medal as 10th Best Speaker in the Ana Alano Cup. a secondary tournament for the PSDC for teams from institutions that did not reach the final round of the conference.
Meanwhile, Neophytes Luize Liam Dwight T. Cerro and Achilles D. Macaso, Grade 9 students, won 1st place in Round 6 with the motion, “ This House believes that the project of Continental Lift has failed.”
On the other hand, arguing on the motion supporting the rise of protectionist climate industrial policy, David James A. Tan, Grade 10 and Trinity Mikaela M. Banzon from Grade 11 also showed a commendable performance coming neck to neck with other notable schools in the country to get a whooping 3 in Round 3.
The motions were unpredictable, varied and complex that ranged from pop culture, to environment, agriculture, education, to national and international politics, to marriage and relationships and to practically anything under the sun.
These topics required debaters to keep themselves abreast of current local and global issues and to construct clear, logical, and convincing arguments under pressure.
The annual Philippine Schools Debating Championship 2024 is the premier debate tournament for high school students in the country, held last January 11-14, 2024 at the Ateneo de Manila University, this time in person after the pandemic. Getting dubbed as the Best Performing School from outside Metro Manila, our debaters, especially Team C, take pride in breaking to the finals among a total of 132 teams from 35 schools all over the country that participated in this debate tournament.
Our debaters were accompanied by adult chaperones Ms. Maria Ninfa E. Josol and Mr. Rodney C. Masamong, SDG Advisers.
