For the first time since 2019, the National Asians High School Debate Championship, more commonly known as NAsHDC, was held in person– welcoming 23 participating secondary schools from all over the Philippines at the De La Salle University-Manila from August 28 to 31, 2024.
The in-person tournament was a momentous one, and a welcome sight for NAsHDC’s organizers and participants as, like any other social event that suffered during the pandemic, it had to resort to an online edition for three straight years from 2021 to 2023.
“We began ideating our vision for NAsHDC in May 2024. We knew that we wanted to bring it back– after all, the La Salle Debate Society does a really good job of balancing entertaining programs with high quality event organization,” said Tournament Convenor Megan Sioco.
WINNERS
The tournament featured two divisions– the open category and the novice category.
Open Champions: Paref Southridge - Geoff Biscocho, Azarel Tanoja, Jacob Ty
Open Runners-Up: Xavier School-San Juan - Jack Lim, Tyler Lim, Sean Angeles
Novice Champions: De La Salle University Senior High School - Gian Carlo Campo Montuno, Joaquin Carlos Rabat Francisco, Zenaida Victoria Alejandra Milanes Ilao
Novice Runners-Up: Philippine Science High School - Main Campus with Amelia Robang, Jhoenica Gellido, Heidrique Kristof Sumogba
Top 10 Open Speakers:
1– Geoff Biscocho - Paref Southridge
2– Jacob Ty - Paref Southridge
3– Ramya Espiritu - Saint Paul College Pasig
4– Tyler Lim - Xavier School San Juan
4– Kimberly Co - Homeschool Global
6– Franco Kasilag - Philippine Science High School Main Campus
7– Althea Ocomen - Immaculate Concepcion Academy
8– Kara Elise Porciuncula - De La Salle University - SHS
9– Raine Isabel Eslabon - De La Salle Santiago Zobel School
10– Patrice Chua - Miriam College High School
WHAT IS NAsHDC?
The National Asians High School Debate Championship is a national debate competition that caters to secondary school students both in junior high school and senior high school.
Annually hosted by De La Salle University-Manila’s La Salle Debate Society (LSDS), NAsHDC is one of two national meets for high school debaters– the other being the Philippine Schools Debate Championship, or PSDC, organized by the Ateneo Debate Society.
A total of 60 teams from 23 participating institutions joined NAsHDC 2024, 14 of which are schools based in the National Capital Region.
Nine schools hail from the regions: Ateneo de Zamboanga University SHS (Zamboanga del Sur), Amadeo National High School (Amadeo, Cavite), Biliran Province State University-Laboratory High School (Biliran), De La Salle Lipa (Laguna), Marcelo H. del Pilar National High School (Bulacan), Oriental Mindoro National High School (Oriental Mindoro), Philippine Science High School-Central Visayas Campus (Cebu), Quezon Science High School (Quezon Province), and St. Benedict Childhood Education Centre (Cebu).
Leading the judicial panel as the tournament's Adjudication Core were Ben Nadzmier Bensali (University of the Philippines-Los Baños), Desher Empeño (De La Salle University-Manila), Riva Fong (Ateneo de Manila University), and Rikk Nicholson Nalzaro (Ateneo de Davao University)
NAsHDC is the high school nationals in the Asian Parliamentary format– a type of debate that pits two three-member teams against each other in a round.
The PSDC, on the other hand, is a British Parliamentary-style tournament, where, instead of a one-versus-one clash, four distinct pairs battle each other in one debate round.
PREPARATIONS
Tournament Director Megan Sioco explained how tedious the organization process was, admitting that the past four months prior to the tournament was “a tidal wave of mystery, as this was the first face-to-face NAsHDC since 2019.”
One major point to improve on, according to Sioco, was the organizing team’s anticipation of heavy workload that came as a result of their relative unfamiliarity with third party partnerships and suppliers. “We were reeling from the new experiences of having a hotel partnership and having to deal with such large portions of funds with our suppliers.” she said.
“We did not anticipate the weight of the workload,” she noted, but believes that the team was lucky to have figured out everything in time for the large event.
As for bringing non-NCR schools into the tournament, Sioco said that their constant and seamless communication with these debate institutions– some of which hail from areas far from the Metro– made the task much easier.
“It was heartwarming. We communicated with each institution representative directly and we felt their ardent desire to make it to NAsHDC. The kids would even share random news about their tryouts and team preparations,” she said.
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
There is always more to national gatherings, especially for students, such as NAsHDC than the trophies and medals that come with its competitive nature. “They unite us… without these national tournaments, high school debaters can't discover how other institutions debate, what other people value, and how vast the Philippine circuit is,” shared Megan.
While competitions are always an avenue for contestants to test their mettle and show their competitive side, they are also bound to learn the significance of camaraderie and collective growth.
“We heard from participants that post-NASHDC, institutions would have cross-spars and groupchats with one another, because the debaters took the opportunity to make friends,” Megan said.
