Valencia, Gonzalez, & Alcañeses win SLIDE UP Debate championship, a first for AHS!
For the first time, the Ateneo de Manila High School Debaters have won the prestigious Southern Luzon Intellectual Debate Encounter (SLIDE UP) championship. Team AHS A, comprised of Luigi Alcañeses (11-A), Paulo Valencia (11-N), and Hans Gonzalez (10-M) took home the grand championship by defeating defending SLIDE UP champions PAREF Southridge in the finals on a 6-1 split decision. AHS A opposed the motion, “This house, as the Catholic Church, would elect the Pope in a popular vote.” Alcañeses was voted as the Best Speaker of the Finals on a 4-2-1 split decision.
AHS A achieved the distinction of being undefeated throughout the tournament. They won all their preliminary rounds and ended these rounds with the highest individual speaker scores, allowing them to break as the top seeded team in the elimination rounds.
AHS B, comprised of Red Nadela (11-A), David Africa (9-A), and Matthew Mercado (9-F) reached the Semifinal round of the competition, but was knocked out by eventual champion AHS A on a 2-1 split decision. AHS C, an all freshman team with Gabe Apostol (9-A), Ryan Oquiza (9-D), and Javy Pineda (9-D) reached the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
The debaters bagged individual medals as well. Alcañeses and Valencia tied as Overall Best Speakers of the Tournament, ranking 1st out of 126 total competitors. As the Overall Best Speaker of the Tournament in SLIDE UP 2015, Alcañeses' win in SLIDE UP 2016 is a back to back feat. Hans Gonzalez was ranked as the 3rd Best Speaker, Red Nadela as the 4th Best Speaker, and Matthew Mercado as the 7th Best Speaker. Sophomore Francis Dominguez (10-B) participated in the Extemporaneous Speaking competition of the event, and came in at 3rd Place.
SLIDE UP was a regional tournament for teams from regions in Southern Luzon from 2009-2015. It was only in 2015 that SLIDE UP was opened to participation by schools from other parts of the country. This year, 126 students from Tarlac to Mindoro took part in the growing and increasingly intense competition. SLIDE UP 2016 was hosted in UP Los Baños from March 5-6, 2016.
The AHS Debaters are moderated by Mrs. Fe U. De Jesus of the English Subject Area. The team extends its thanks to coaches Miguel Ventura, Isaac Lee, Tres Yap, and Henry Fernando for preparing and accompanying them to the competition. The team also expresses its gratitude to the Office of Student Activities, and the AHS A-Team for granting them support and approval to participate in the event.
