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Filipino debaters emerge victorious in int'l debate tournament

Philippines | National

Filipino debaters emerge victorious in int'l debate tournament

By Gabriela Baron

Filipino debaters emerged victorious during the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) finals on Thursday, July 15.

(ALI VICOY / MB FILE PHOTO)

The WUDC, organized in 1981, is the world's largest debating tournament and one of the largest annual international student events globally.

This year's debate championship was hosted virtually by South Korea.

Dianne Ablay from the University of the Philippines Tacloban was named as the Public Speaking Grand champion, while Hans Wong of the De La Salle University won the English-as-a-second language (ESL) Best Speaker award.

Charlette Inao and Verse Abellaneda of the University of the Philippines Manila were hailed as Masters Grand champions.

Meanwhile, Luigi AlcaÃ±eses, David Africa, Mikko Vitug, and Ignacio Villareal from the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) were ranked as the 8th, 7th, 4th, and 3rd Best Open Speakers, respectively.

The Philippines made history on Wednesday, July 14, after it secured six spots in four grand final categories at the WUDC, marking its biggest contingent yet since the tournament started.

The last time the country won WUDC was in 2016, with DLSU in the ESL category, breaking a 15-year drought. Prior to that was AdMU's ESL victory in 2011 and the University of Santo Tomas' in 1999.

Related Tags

University of the Philippines World Universities Debating Championship WUDC 2021 De La Salle University Ateneo de Manila University

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