The Philippine Intercollegiate Debating Championship (PIDC) is the premier national Asian Parliamentary debate tournament, gathering around 350+ student-debaters from universities across the Philippines. Hosted by the University of the Philippines Debate Society (UPDS), PIDC is renowned for delivering a top-notch tournament experience that showcases highly-competitive debate rounds. Now in its first edition as an online tournament, the event promises to uphold its prestige as its participants compete for the national championship from July 30 to August 1, and August 7 to August 8.
In the past, PIDC has also been known to champion the voice of the youth by providing them an avenue to engage with prominent personalities on socially relevant issues through the Issues Forum. This year, it will be a moderated interview that aims to discuss the frequently asked questions of the Philippine debate circuit.
With this year’s theme of “Rebuild Connections”, the tournament aims to resolve the digital divide. It has held a panel discussion on inclusivity in the Philippine debate circuit entitled, ‘Reconnecting: Debating in the Online Era’ (in partnership with the Philippine Debate Review), while launching a Lecture Series in its Youtube channel discussing pertinent debate concepts. Furthermore, the tournament still continues to give subsidies to select participants through the Anna Alfaro-Manurung Financial Grant (named after the Founding President of the UPDS), even introducing a new incentive that grants beginners from institutions outside Metro Manila free registration to the tournament.
In these uncertain and daunting times, the first online Philippine nationals is waiting for us to help rebuild the connection together.
Facebook: facebook.com/officialpidc
Youtube: Official PIDC
Twitter: @pidconline
