Renz Reyes is IDeA's 1st Best Speaker of the Year

Last April 2, 2016, the Interscholastic Debate Association Grands, or IDeA Grands, was held at the Asian Development Bank. This was the culminating tournament of the three IDeA Invitationals of the season, where schools across the Metro Manila region competed for points of their various teams to be eligible for a spot in the top 16 team qualified to engage in a Finals Series for the championship. The past two years of IDeA Grands were won by the Ateneo High School, with Miguel Ventura (A2014) & Isaac Lee (D2014) in 2014 and Rafa Lapira (A2015) & Adrian Padilla (J2015) in 2015.

This year, the Ateneo Debaters were able to secure a full contingent break for IDeA Grands, gaining five team slots from teams A-E. Most notably, the team consisting of Paulo Valencia (12N) & Hans Gonzalez (11M) was able to reach the Finals of the tournament, taking a close second to Immaculate Concepcion Academy. They were also the team that garnered the highest points in the last Philippine Schools Debating Championship.

The contingent was also able to achieve two of the Top 10 Speakers of the Year, with Renz Reyes (12A as the Best Speaker of the Year and Luigi Alcañeses (also from 12A) as the 3rd Best Speaker of the Year. The last time an IDeA Grands Best Speaker of the Year winner came from the AHS was in 2010, when Henry Fernando of A2010 won the award. Reyes and Alcañeses are also the co-captain and captain- respectively- of the team, and year-long teammates with exceptional performances with championships in 4 different tournaments and countless finals appearances across the region.
The team would like to thank the Office of Student Activites for its support for the team, and Ma'am Merci for generously providing transportation. The team is ever so grateful to be given the opportunity to debate and compete in such prestigious tournaments as these. AMDG!