THREE ARTLETS topped the novice category of The Lampara Debate Open, a Philippine-based international debate tournament featuring 44 teams and 56 judges from Southeast Asian countries.
Awla JVJ, which represented the AB Debate Parliament, was named Novice Grand Champions after securing a win from the opposition bench in the final round. The team consisted of Vzam Cyrus Gyan Lu, Jego Paulo Martinez and Jose Miguel Arugay.
The novice category is reserved for beginners who are usually in their first years in the competition.
Arugay, a Political Science freshman, was hailed as the finals best speaker in the novice category along with Lu and Martinez, both from the Economics department.
The team was in the opposition side to defend the motion “feminist movement in China should prioritize changing men’s expectations of women in marriage over encouraging women to pursue independence from marriage.”
Thomasian adjudicators also earned top rankings, with Martin Joseph Galapon and Raphael Manalang named second and fourth best judges, respectively.
Galapon served as the schools finals chair and an open grand finals panelist, while Manalang sat on the open semifinals and school finals panels.
Other UST representatives also advanced to the elimination rounds, including the 7th breaking team of Pam Ashley Fale, Althea Nicole Locsin and Ma. Ninfa Paula Valdemar.
The 2nd reserve breaking team composed of Shann Thadea Ravena, Paul Vincent Pineda and Angelo Miguel Gonzales also advanced to the elimination rounds.
The Lampara Debate Open, which took place virtually from March 14 to 15, had 44 teams and 56 judges. The tournament used the Asian Parliamentary format, which tasks three-member teams with defending or opposing a motion through structured logic and formal rebuttals.
Organized by Parliamate, the tournament redefines the “ilaw ng tahanan” or light of the home moniker by positioning women as a guiding “lampara” (lamp) beyond domestic settings. F
