General Santos City – In celebration of the month-long National Women's Month Celebration and Gender and Development (GAD), the Mindanao State University - General Santos Debate Society (MGDS) and MSU-GSC GAD office organized GAD Debates 2025, aimed to empower women, giving voices to the current issues related to gender and development, and to support GAD initiatives such as outreaches and charities, March 22.
As each team competed in MSU-GSC Graduate Studies Audio-Visual Room, Andrea Ysabelle R. Aban, Hermione Saskiya H. Solde, and Zane Cellize Marchelle Cachuela of We Stand with Fyang bestowed as the grand champion of Gender and Development (GAD) Debates 2025 against Krypton Casper Bautista, Rhyzel Faye Torres Magisulan, and Jhappa Garcia of Boo Gun For Sale in a split decision of 4-1.
Moreover, Grejie Lou G. Mercado won the Overall Best Adjudicator award with a score of 16.50, making her the chair adjudicator for GAD Debates grands, and Rhyzel Faye Torres Magisulan was acknowledged as the Overall Best Speaker, garnering 113.08 speaker points.
© MSU - GSC Debate Society
Standing for Fyang
Andrea Ysabelle R. Aban, a member of the winning team, expressed that their team had little to no preparations at all before the event.
“We were not even able to practice our team dynamics through debate spars, also because our team up was last minute. What we had was only a discussion on how to do motion analysis the night before the tournament,” she stated.
Aban also stated that she participated in the event to contribute to the programs of GAD and MSU-GSC Debate Society (MGDS).
“The main reason I joined GAD Debates 2025 is that a portion of the tournament's proceeds will be donated to the Home for the Girls Charity. This creates a win-win situation for us participants, as we not only hone our debate skills but also contribute to a meaningful cause, especially this March when we celebrate Women's Month and we want to empower all girls and women in ways we can,” she shared.
Moreover, during the finals, Zane Cellize Marchelle Cachuela shared her experiences and thoughts, delivering shrivers in her spine, particularly when it was her time to speak.
“During the final round, I was already very nervous since we were up against our opponents during the third round, and seeing how they defended their case during that round was a different experience. Their Deputy Prime Minister, Ate Rhyzel was truly a different breed, as the Deputy Leader of Opposition, I can truly say that during that specific round I was speechless, wala akong ma-rebut nun,” Cachuela exposed.
Cachuela also shared the things that they do in the release of the motions, recalling that first thing they did was preempt and weigh the possible arguments of the government and our arguments.
“Since the motion was an actor motion and in my opinion, it was pretty opposition-leaning, we had to think of what was better for our actor, and our cases were truly just heavier and better for her than the government’s,” Cachuela stated.
Furthermore, Hermione Saskiya H. Solde shared the challenges and hardships that the team encountered in the whole duration of the event, recounting that this was her first tournament.
“Despite all that though I'm super grateful we had such guidance from Ate Andrea throughout the tournament kasi she single-handedly cleaned up the messy arguments we made every time she spoke, and of course it also helped na we had the company of our friends Lianne and Kiera there na mga first timers din”, Solde embarked.
Solde thought that the motion presented was government leaning, making them feel challenged.
“During the creation na ng arguments we were able to think of our first argument, which made the motion in itself really unlikely, like napa question ang panel if that situation would happen talaga, and i think na siguro the government side wasn't able to pre empt that argument which solidified our case to the panels even more,” she said..
The team expressed their thanksgiving and gratitude to every person that supported them in their journey in GAD Debates.
Being the leader of the group, Aban shared words of wisdom to everyone who want to pursue debating and adjudication.
“To those people who aspire to enter the world of debating, do so and never give up on that goal because the field itself will open more doors for you. Not only was I able to hone my argumentation and public speaking skills, but I was able to meet a lot of amazing and inspiring people who had a big part in molding me both as a debater and as a person,” she expressed.
Crowned Best Adjudicator
Grejie Lou G. Mercado shared her experiences and journey in GAD Debates, acknowledging that she is also a novice and a first timer in oral adjudication, despite the challenges and difficulties encountered during her preparations.
“I actually don’t have that much preparation for the tournament since I have a lot of things to juggle and my schedule is jam-packed but what I did is observe and ask, there is no harm in asking how to do this and that so I gave it a shot,” she said.Mercado recalled that she asked her seniors questions such as what should be said during oral adjudication, what to observe with the speeches, how to weigh their arguments, among others.
She also emphasized the difficulties of delivery and mastery in handling different information and arguments, digesting and analyzing different cases to make an argument valid.
“As an adjudicator, you have to think that you’re just a reasonable average person which means that you have to be rational and listen to the arguments of both sides. I think it is important to set aside your personal opinion in accordance with the motion as it will be biased and could greatly affect your verdict in the end,” she added.
She also highlight the reasons of voting for “We Stand with Fyang” as the grand winner of GAD Debate.
“It was a great debate, both teams have their own good points but I think what Team “We Stand with Fyang” has is they have a fair share of contributions to establish a good case. Other adjudicators said the same thing and highlighted how heavy the argument of the opposition side is,” she said.
With her journey, Mercado expressed her gratitude, especially to her seniors in MGDS, her co-debaters, and her co-adjudicators for the knowledge and guidance they transpired to make her winning possible
“To those aspiring adjudicators, don’t be afraid to speak up, ask questions, and try, and if you’re planning to challenge yourself and improve your public speaking skills, I suggest that you start working on it as early as now. It’s now or never,” she emphasized.
© MSU - GSC Debate Society
GADmazing clash
GAD Debates is a Debate competition with a mission to hone the skills of every participant in debating relevant issues related to gender equality.
Furthermore, the event was established to help Home for the Girls Charity, hitting two birds in one stone to collaborate and to help while also conducting competitions and debate events.
Comentários