Despite having a young contingent, the Ateneo Debate Society (ADS) had a great performance at this year’s National Debate Championship (NDC) which was held in the Ateneo de Cagayan (otherwise known as Xavier University) from October 17-24, 2011. After a grueling 8-round eliminations, seven teams and four adjudicators broke, namely:

ADMU B (Job de Leon, Peterson Poon) 2nd Break

ADMU A (Walter Wong, Allan Cabrera) 3rd Break

ADMU C (Dwight Tan, Daryl Isla) 14th Break

ADMU D (Dea Bernarte, Bas Claudio) 22nd Break

ADMU E (Inah Robles, Nick Fortuna) 24th Break

ADMU F (Liane Aquino, Rico La Viña) – capped at 25 th Break

ADMU G (Marianne Vitug, Titus Villanueva) - capped at 31st Break

Adjudicators:

Ray Pine

Steffi Sales

Ed Ragadio

Coco Navarro

Team D reached the octofinals while Teams C and E debated till the quarters. Teams B and A met in the semifinals with A eventually securing a slot to the finals. Both of the finalists, Allan Cabrera and Walter Wong were awarded Best Speaker Awards at 6th and 8th place respectively.

ADS talent goes beyond dominating through the main debates. Peterson Poon was not only rewarded 4th Best Speaker of the tournament, but was also a finalist in the Master's Cup - a complement tournament exclusively for seasoned comedic geniuses who have already broken in an international tournament or have reached the semifinals in nationals. Job de Leon, Walter Wong, Daryl Isla and Dwight Tan also qualified as participants in the said tournament and were able to humor their way to the semi-finals.

The organization is also home to a very able judging circle. Ray Pine, Steffi Sales and Ed Ragadio were also recognized as the 3rd, 6th and 9th Best Adjudicators of the tournament.

This year’s nationals was the perfect way to start succeeding annual events. The Ateneo Debate Society will be hosting the 10th Philippine Debate Schools Championship - the biggest tournament in high school debate history with around 140 teams participating! In its 20th year as an organization, the ADS never ceases to amaze.