The Parliament: UPLB Debate Society hosted its thirteenth and largest edition of the Luzon Intervarsity yet, welcoming over 350 participants from schools and universities across the Philippines and Asia. The tournament was hosted online, via Zoom and Discord, from November 6 through November 8.
For thirteen years the Luzon Intervarsity, familiarly referred to as LIV, has been one of the largest and most prestigious competitive debate tournaments in the Philippines. This year, the tournament took on the theme, “Defying the Odds”, an invitation that it extended to new and old debaters alike.
For three days some of the world’s sharpest young minds battled over issues of culture, economics, international relations, politics, religion, and social justice. The debate topics were crafted by a world-class adjudication team composed of Akeem Fabila from Ateneo de Davao University, Belle Barbin from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Daniel Maier-Gant from the University of Auckland, Namita Pandey from ILS Law College, Njuguna Macharia from Strathmore University, and Tan Yao Kun from the Singapore Institute of Management.
Defying all odds this year were the tournament’s: grand champions, Hugh Mejos and David Mencias from the Philippine Science High School Main Campus; novice champions, Mohammad Mahmoud and Jeggo Regis from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines; overall top-ranked speaker, Denzelle Caro from the University of Santo Tomas; and top-ranked adjudicators, Verse Abellaneda from the University of the Philippines Manila and Miko Bombeo from Xavier University.
Luzon Intervarsity 2021 was co-presented by WhenInManila.com, InqPOP, UPLB Corps of Cadets, UP Caballeros, Society of Exchange Students – UP, and the UP Society of Management and Economics Students. A substantial portion of LIV’s proceeds will be donated to Childhope Philippines Inc, a charity that advocates for the empowerment of street children.
