Ateneo Debaters Complete Unprecedented IDeA Lite 3-Peat!
For the third year in a row, the Ateneo de Manila High School Debaters have won the Interscholastic Debate Association (IDeA) Lite invitational championship, completing an unprecedented “Three-peat.” Miguel Ventura (4A) and Isaac Lee (4D) won the tournament in 2011, while Rafa Lapira (3A) and France Santos (3A) won it in 2012.
Held at St. Paul’s College Pasig on 20-21 July 2013, IDeA Lite 2013 proved to be the largest IDeA Lite tournament so far, with over sixty teams and one hundred twenty debaters participating. IDeA Lite is a tournament wherein debaters who have never competed in a national or international elimination debate round are eligible.
Team AHS A, comprised of Enrique Gomez (4K) and Josiah Encinas (3F) won the Grand Final on a 4-1 split decision, successfully opposing the motion, “This house would require children to take care of their parents until they (the parents) reach old age.” Enrique Gomez, the Leader of the Opposition, was also named best speaker of the Grand Final.
Of worthy note was Team AHS B, comprised of Derrick Ampil (3L) and JJ Sagcal (3A), who broke as the top-seeded team out of sixty teams after the preliminary rounds. They broke into the elimination rounds with a perfect 9 out of 9 points, and continued to win unanimous first place decisions in both the Quarterfinals and Semifinals. In the finals, they came in as runners-up to AHS A.
The other two teams in the finals were both teams from PAREF Woodrose Inc.
Team AHS C, comprised of Mon Asuncion (3G) and Migui Dela Cruz (3G) ranked 8th after the preliminary rounds and reached the Quarterfinals of the tournament. Meanwhile, all-freshman team AHS D, comprised of Luigi Alcaneses (1A) and Carlos Tiu (1A) put on a stellar and impressive performance—earning a sufficient number of team points to break, but were unfortunately outranked by other teams with higher cumulative speaker scores.
Derrick Ampil was named Overall Best Speaker Of The Tournament, JJ Sagcal was named as the 4th, and Enrique Gomez and Josiah Encinas tied as 9th.
In a special segment of the competition, the Public Speaking competition, Chino Mendiola (3B) emerged as the overall champion out of twenty participants. The Public Speaking Competition is a comedy-segment wherein participants are tasked to provide speeches as humorous and comedic as possible, while exhibiting excellent public speaking skills. The topics assigned to Chino were “Why instant noodles can help you rule the world,” and “Narrate the day you lost your ‘debate virginity’.”
This is the first time in IDeA’s history wherein a contingent swept all the possible awards in a tournament. This is also the first THREE-PEAT of any invitational in IDeA’s history. No other school has won IDeA Lite in consecutive years.
The debaters proved that success is not only measured by awards and medals, but is also measured against a person’s own potential, and personal greatness can be achieved by pushing oneself to the maximum of one’s capacity while looking out for the team’s goals first and foremost. Throughout the preparation and training process, this philosophy of teamwork and leadership was emphasized and taken to heart by the entire team.
The moderator of the team is Mrs. Fe U. de Jesus of the English Department. The coaches of the Ateneo Debaters are Mahar Mangahas, Henry Fernando, Inah Robles, Bas Claudio, Daryl Isla, and Peterson Poon. The entire team, and moderator and coaching staff would like to thank the entire Ateneo High School community for the generous support and prayers offered for the team’s success. The team is currently preparing for other upcoming tournaments in the coming weeks and months.
