In the 7th installment of the Visayas Universities Debating Championship – British Parliamentary 2021, the University of the Philippines Visayas Debate Society garnered several awards with a spot in the Open Grand Finals, 3 overall best speaker awards, 2 overall best adjudicator awards, 3 breaking teams and 3 breaking adjudicators, last November 6 – 7, 2021, which the University of San Carlos hosted.
John Rey V. Reyes and Eljenmer L. Sindo of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences competed in the Open Grand Finals of the said tournament as Opening Opposition against teams from UP Tacloban, University of San Jose Recoletos, and UP Cebu. Although unable to seize the championship, Reyes and Sindo’s finals appearance is remarkable, as the last finals appearance UPV Debate Society had was back in 2019. They were also given individual awards, with Reyes as the Tournament Overall Best Speaker and Sindo as the 5th Tournament Overall Best Speaker, respectively. They were also the 2nd Breaking Team of the Tournament.
UPV Debate Society’s adjudicators were also acclaimed to be the best in the Visayas, as Ricksalene Celestial (BA in Pol Sci II) and Jeanelle Deocampo (BA in Sociology I) of the College of Arts and Sciences clinched the tied spot for the Overall Best Adjudicator of the Tournament, while Louie Grace Wendam (BS in Fisheries II) was also one of the breaking adjudicators.
Jasper Franz Mapa (BA Sociology III) of CAS and Sandro Rico Muyco (BS in Chemical Engineering III) of the School of Technology also completed their run in the Open Semi-Finals of VUBP and were ranked the 13th Breaking Team. Meanwhile, Carl Andre Sanchez (BA Sociology IV) and Ivy Marie Pilatan (BS in Biology IV) of CAS also completed theirs in the Open Quarter Finals and made it as the 5th Breaking Team, with Pilatan being the Tournament Overall 8th Best Speaker.
The other competing teams of UPV Debate Society were composed of Pauline Lamela (BS Biology III) and Sybyl Orbuda (BS in Public Health II); and the team of John Paul Chiva and Rick Guillarte (BA in Political Science II), of the College of Arts and Sciences.
UPV Debate Society’s former alumnus, Keith Vincent Jablo, was also one of the esteemed members of the Adjudication Core of the said tournament. This successful run and achievement for the UPV Debate Society is with the support of their Adviser, Julie Prescott, and their Co-Adviser, Antonio Salazar.
VUBP 2021 is composed of four (4) preliminary rounds, with break rounds that start from Quarters to Finals and are participated in by several debate institutions and universities across the Visayas region.
