The Philippine team from De La Salle University (DLSU) students emerged as World Champions at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) held in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Jason Dizon and Mikee De Vega took the gold and glory for the Philippines as they beat Korea’s Seoul National University, University of Indonesia, and Germany’s TWTH Aachen University in the final round.

The DLSU Debate Society team captains crushed over 164 teams in the debate championships, including other contingents from the Philippines such as Ateneo University team and another team from DLSU.

The Philippine team presented a case on how a nation-state can empower the working class against exploitation ruled by multinational corporations in a global market. It is their closing opposition in the issue of the declining power of the nation-state in a continuously globalized world.

“We are extremely happy that Filipinos have bagged the ESL World Debate Championship again, after 15 years. This is a Philippine victory more than anything,” said Atty. Dino De Leon, DLSU Debate Society coach, in a statement.

The last time a Filipino team won the category was in 2001, when the Ateneo de Manila University brought the trophy home at the tournament held in Glasgow.

As an annual debating tournament, over 1,000 of the best students competed with contingents from well-known universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Stanford; yet the Philippine team was crowned as the winners!

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