SAN BEDA DEBATE Society’s (SBDS) Sam Unabia and alumnus Rance Peralta were awarded seventh best speaker and open grand finals best speaker, respectively, during the online 2023 Visayas Intervarsity (VIV) last November 4-5, hosted by the Cebu Inter-school Debating Association (CIDA).
With a number of teams contesting all over the Philippines, San Beda University (SBU) was represented by members of the SBDS. The speakers were divided evenly into two groups, with Lorenz De Claro and former SBDS member, former SBDS member, Francis Revilla, , as the first group, while Unabia, along with Peralta, were the other one. Alexandrea Chloe Baylon and Axcel France Eco, also members of SBDS, were present as the adjudicators of the said debate.
Prior to the competition, De Claro mentioned how he employed “matter loading” in preparation for the motions that were yet to be disclosed during the debate itself.
Yet more than just matter loading alone, Unabia added how it is just as essential to “apply the things that you have learned [and] read.” Furthermore, he added how training and contesting against other institutions, like Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and Far Eastern University (FEU), was a “holistic” way to train for the VIV event.
The first day of the event saw the commencement of the preliminaries where all groups engaged in a debate for four rounds consisting of four motions, accordingly. The team of De Claro and Revilla placed first during the first, second, and fourth rounds scoring 152, 155, and 156 respectively. Although the team placed third during the third round with a score of 152, nonetheless it was more than enough for them to advance directly into the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, the team of Unabia and Peralta also placed first during the second and fourth rounds, scoring 156 and 158, respectively. The team also placed second during the first round, with a score of 154, and third in the third round, 151. As such, the team also then advanced to the outrounds which transpired on the second day, November 5.
According to De Claro, the only way for a team to advance in the outrounds was to have a “high score in your speaks and have a high score as a team.” Their team advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals, but unfortunately failed to make the cut for the Grand Final.
Conversely, the team of Unabia and Peralta advanced from the pre-quarterfinals down to the Grand Finals, with Unabia being awarded as the Seventh Best Speaker, while Peralta as the Open Grand Finals Best Speaker.
Going back to the performance, De Claro assessed how one of his strengths was handholding judges and teams to engage in their cases, while his weakness was the inadequate matter loading being done.
For Unabia, he disclosed how his “willingness to explore something new” was a strength that eventually evolved his speech structure. His weakness, he confessed, was the internal self-doubt.
Yet amid such lapses then landing towards tremendous feats in the VIV event, De Claro exclaimed “I think it’s just a matter of how the alleviation of the self-doubt that I’ve been feeling throughout the outrounds was very very important to me. And I think I can carry that over to my next tournaments for sure.”