Skip to content

Aaron Chan and Anna Arcellana (UP DILIMAN A) Named As New National Debate Champions

Lyceum of the Philippines, Manila — After finishing second in the preliminaries, University of the Philippines Diliman Team A comprised of Anna Arcellana and Aaron Chan claimed the top plum at the National Debate Championship. They bested three other teams namely Ateneo de Manila University Team B Vincenzo Tagle and Ces Gotamco, Ateneo de Manila Team C Danielle de Castro and Jasmine Cruz and University of the Philippines Diliman Team C Alistair Zosa and Candice Chung.

Arcellana who spoke as the opposition whip was the best speaker for the Finals. UP Diliman A was the last of the top-seeded teams remaining in the competition. The three other teams in the top four – Ateneo A, UP Manila A and Ateneo F (1st, 3rd and 4th) — all got eliminated during the highly contentious quarterfinal rounds. Ateneo C finished 5th, Ateneo B was 7th while UP Diliman C was 8th. This is UP Diliman’s second National Debate Championship win. The duo of Nico Cabrera and Claudia Poon was the first team from Diliman to ever win the prestigious title.

Arcellana and Chan also reached the finals back in 2007 (Philippine Military Academy as hosts) but lost to eventual champions Ateneo (then with Mico Biscocho and Gica Mangahas). The University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City won the right to host the 12th National Debate Championship next year.

Bookmark at:
StumbleUpon | Digg | Del.icio.us | Dzone | Newsvine | Spurl | Simpy | Furl | Reddit | Yahoo! MyWeb

Views Counter v.0.10 Viewed 58192 times by 2506 viewers

This was written by benj. Posted on Friday, October 30, 2009, at 1:24 pm. Filed under debate. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Post a comment or leave a trackback.

7 Comments

  • At 2009.10.30 19:45, Hmm said:

    I’m pretty sure UPD won the NDC even before they won in Baguio a few years ago. Didn’t Diane Desierto win the NDC before?

    Double-check your facts.

    …of coures, I could be wrong too.

    [Reply]
    • At 2009.10.30 19:49, Hmm said:

      Hmm. Guess I was wrong. Oh well. Feel free to delete previous comment. Or not.

      [Reply]
      • At 2009.10.31 21:14, J said:

        I think Diane Desierto won either NDC or IIDC

        Talagang news article kung news article ang post. Wala man lang personal NDC experiences? :D

        [Reply]
        • At 2009.11.01 21:32, schoolgirl said:

          Diane Desierto won best speaker of the first NDC, but not the championship.

          The first time UPDS won it was in 2006 with Nico Cabrera and Claudia Poon.

          [Reply]
          • At 2009.11.01 21:37, Nico said:

            I believe Diane was overall best speaker and, together with Jae dela Cruz, composed the team that broke at the top of the very first NDC held in 1999 in Ateneo. I could be wrong because I wasn’t there. Maybe you can ask Leloy to confirm. :)

            I am sure, though, that Diane won neither tournament. I’m particularly sure about IIDC because she predated that tournament. The very first IIDC was in 2002 and she was no longer doing parliamentary then.

            [Reply]
            • At 2009.11.03 12:02, Diane Desierto said:

              Hi everyone. One of my students forwarded me this thread and I was a bit bemused, to say the least, that whatever ‘records’ I had as a student from over a decade ago are even remembered at all today. Since I’m quite possibly the best person to verify all this information, I might as well end the discussion so everyone can move on and PLEASE give this year’s champions their hard-earned due. :) To be matter of fact about it, I was awarded Best Debater and 1st Runner-up Best Public Speaker during the 1999 NDC, where, with the amazing Jae dela Cruz, we made it to the semifinals. While a student of UP, I was fortunate to have teamed up with brilliant teammates such as Arnell Uychoco, Lilibeth Almonte, Ruben Acebedo, Neil Silva, Queenie Oyales, and Michael Mejia to win the 2001 ASEAN Varsities Debate Championships, the 2001 All-Asian Intervarsity Debate Championships, and the 2004 Jean Pictet World International Humanitarian Law Moot Competition (English session). In my present work as a law professor at UP and international lawyer here at Yale, I have vague recollections about other records, but I choose to remember innumerable team experiences of friendships and fellowships forged, valuable insights exchanged on urgent issues of socio-political significance, and translations to actual advocacies beyond debate. I have the most respect for teammates and colleagues of mine who have gone on to give genuine meaning to debate — not as sophistry but as civic participation. That’s how I hope we continue the grand tradition of UP debating as Iskolars ng Bayan.

              Please give my best congratulations to this year’s new UPD champions, and the overall stellar showing of UPD. I believe every UPDS generation is better each year, and we cannot devalue what each generation accomplishes by placing undue weight on records. Your alumni (and everyone fortunate to partake in some small measure of this wonderful news) are already more than proud of you. I only hope that this championship is the beginning of meaningful life pursuits and purposes. Beyond university debating and the propensity for soundbyte opinions, your voices will be crucial in advancing enlightened exchanges in our country and the world at large.

              Diane Desierto
              UP BS Econ (2000), UP LLB (2004),
              Yale LLM (2009), Yale JSD (2014)

              [Reply]
              • At 2009.11.04 00:43, benj said:

                Hey Diane, thanks for leaving a comment here. I remember having you as my octofinals adjudicator the first time I made the breaks as a debater (PIDC 2004). Cheers.

                -Benj

                [Reply]
              (Required)
              (Required, will not be published)