Beating more than 200 debaters, a Filipino student was hailed as Asia’s best debater at the United Asian Debating Championship (UADC) held in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
A fresh MA graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Andrei Buendia tied for the top spot with Sajid Khandaker of Bangladesh.
“I feel like this is a great way to end a career that began with so much frustration. 2017 was really the year that all the hard work paid off,” Rappler quoted him as saying.
The debate champ said debating has helped him to hone his communication skills and logical capacity, adding that debating teams in the Philippines need more support from the public and the government.
“I firmly believe that the Philippine debating circuit is one of the most competitive circuits in the world… I have met debaters from Visayas and Mindanao who are so talented but have never stepped on the national stage simply because of funding,” Buendia said.
The UADC is the largest competition in Asia which is held every year with participants coming from 12 to 15 countries. The last time a Filipino won the competition was in 2012 when Pearl Simbulan of the University of the Philippines bagged the best debater title.
Mika Filoteo from ADMU was also named as the 10th best speaker of the competition. At the UADC, teams from ADMU brought home the following awards: 1st and 10th best speaker, first runner-up, and semifinalists. UP Manila, UP Diliman, UST, and DLSU were all octofinalists.
Photo Credit: Twitter: @AteneoDebateSociety
