One of the highlights in MSU‘s commemoration of the National Law Week and Law Day was the 2021 Dean’s Cup: Inter-campus Debate Tournament which was held on Sunday, September 26 via Zoom.
This year’s tournament was the second inter-campus debate tournament since the first one in 2017, and the first to be conducted on an online platform with Iligan Campus as the host. It was spearheaded by the campus head, Atty. Joanah Alinog-Disocor, manned by its very own Debate and Moot Society, and the Supreme Law Student Council as the steering committee. The Oxford-Oregon debate tournament was adjudicated by the dean of the college, Atty. Annabelle Cañazares-Mindalano, and the professors, Loren Hallilah Lao, Atty. Leonard Mann, Atty. Nashmyleen Marohmasalic, Prosecutor Mary Grace Ventura, Atty. Faisal Cali, Atty. Michael Caesar Advincula, and Atty. Ashyanna Alexine Bangcola. All three campuses have participated in the tournament to argue on the given motions in an intellectual discourse. Allan Supilanas, Czeasar Ian Saul, and Luie Pitlo represented the General Santos Campus; Abdul Calif Amindato, Rohanimah Guro, and Achmida Mamacotao for the Iligan Campus; and Abdul Hatta Derico, Nurhalim Carim, and Mohammad Aiman Langlang for Marawi Campus.
Elimination Round
The eliminations commenced at 8:30 in the morning with three rounds; two of which were given to each team to rack up their chances to advance in the championship round. The first round was between the Iligan Campus for the affirmative side and General Santos for the negative side, who debated on the motion “Let it be ruled that the 60-40 equity rule on business ownership be amended.”. The Gensan Campus won via split decision with Mamacotao of Iligan as the best speaker.
In the second round, the General Santos Campus appeared again for the affirmative side against the Marawi Campus for the negative side. The two campuses defended their stances on the motion “Let it be ruled that any person with a pending case cannot run for public office”. The Marawi Campus was proclaimed as winner via unanimous decision with Carim as the best speaker.
In the last round, the Iligan Campus for the affirmative side and the Marawi Campus for the negative side fought against each other on the motion “Let it be ruled that the president can run for vice-president.”. The Marawi campus prevailed over the Iligan Campus via split decision with Langlang as the best speaker. The adjudicators took time to give their impression and advice to the debaters during the deliberation on the verdict after each round. After which, the tabulation was presented on the screen showing the scores garnered by each campus. Based on the total accumulated scores, Marawi Campus took the lead with 469.33, followed by the Iligan Campus with 463.33, and the General Campus with 459.33.
Championship Round
Competing in the championship in the afternoon were the Iligan Campus for the affirmative side and Marawi for the negative side. The two campuses debated on the motion “LIBRT the protections of international law conventions and treaties should not apply to combatants from the terrorist organization”. After a hard-fought round, Iligan Campus was proclaimed as the champion of the 2021 Dean’s Cup via unanimous decision for scoring 237.6 against 235.4 with Guro as the best speaker.
The battle of wits and wills continues
The tournament concluded with a congratulatory message and words of gratitude from the dean, Atty. Annabel Annabelle Cañazares-Mindalano, to the participants, the honorable adjudicators, the campus heads, the steering committee, and the virtual audience. It was announced that the 2022 Dean’s Cup: Intercampus Debate Tournament will be hosted by the General Santos Campus in the next semester.
