Salonga volunteers reap awards in Grand Law Debate
February 25, 2009

In a grand slam win by Silliman University College of Law over Ateneo de Manila Law school, two scholars from the Dr. Jovito Salonga Center for Law and Development reaped the Best Debater and Best Speaker awards in the Grand Law Debate  held last February 21, 2009 at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium.

Freshman student Donna Ametyst Bernardo was awarded Best Debater
while junior student Ma. Zusabel R. Digaum got the Best Speaker award in the modified Oregon-Oxford format used during the debate. Both winners are recipients of the Rolando and Josefa del Carmen research assistance scholarship of the Salonga Center this year. Digaum was an Isagani Villanueva scholar last school year and has been a volunteer of the Salonga Center since her first year.

The debate focused on the proposition, “Resolved: That the Reproductive Health Bill (House Bill No. 5043) Be Enacted Into Law,” with Silliman University taking the affirmative side and the AdMU taking the negative side.The winners and the participants were lauded by the Board of Judges, headed by Justice Amy Lazaro of the Court of Appeals 20th Division.

The Best Rebuttal Speaker award went to sophomore student Joshua Francisco Ablong from the SU Law Debate team. Jian Wasawas, Ramon Antonio Ruperto (lead researcher) and Elizabeth Karla Aguilan (team manager) complete the SU team. Ruperto and Aguilan are also volunteers of the Salonga Center.

The Grand Law Debate is an annual intellectual engagement sponsored by the Oratorical and Debate Club (ORADEC) of the SU College of Law. This year’s event was spearheaded by its President, Terrence Anton Callao, another Salonga Center scholar and volunteer.