In 2014, the string of notable achievements by the Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan Parliamentary Debate Circle (XU – AdC PDC) has been nothing short of remarkable in the organization’s already exemplary history, which has further carved the Circle’s place in the regional and national debating scene.
Aside from garnering numerous Best Speaker and Best Adjudicator awards, in this year alone the Circle has reached the grand finals of both the 8th Visayas - Mindanao Debate Championship in Zamboanga City and the 30th Mindanao Parliamentary Debate Championship in Cagayan de Oro City. Moreover, the Circle also reached the grand finals of the 6th Luzon Inter-Varsities in Laguna City and the semi-finals of the 16th National Debate Championship in Cebu City.
The Xavier Debate Circle’s greatest international accomplishment to date is the representation of XU at the prestigious 35th World Universities Debate Championship (WUDC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from December 27, 2014 to January 03, 2015 with alumni debaters Lee Arvin Gogo and Giano Libot, and the Circle’s current prime minister Apple Abrillo as their team’s adjudicator.
On New Year’s night, it was then announced that XU team with 16 points ranked 6th on the English as a Second Language (ESL) Category—the highest of all the Philippine teams and besting 274 other international teams in the process.
As one of the four Philippine institutions to participate in this year’s WUDC (including the University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University), XU battled through 9 grueling preliminary rounds with nearly 400 teams from all over the world on a wide variety of topics such as whether or not the international community should cut off internet access in Syria, and the banning of research and production of moral enhancement drugs, among others.
Toward the end of the tournament, XU team ended their run as quarter-finalists on the motion “This House Believes That the African-American community should actively oppose ‘broken windows’ policies,” narrowly losing out to other top-tier ESL teams Stockholm A and University of Macau A.