MANILA, Philippines - The University of the Philippines Diliman won this year's Philippine Inter-Collegiate Debating Championship, the country's largest collegiate debate tournament in the Asian parliamentary format.

Jose Escalante (III- BA Psychology), Valeri Inting (IV- BS Social Work) and Lance Katigbak (II- BA Broadcast Communication) of UPD team A clinched the title in the grand finals held last Saturday at the Quezon City Sports Club, beating Ateneo De Manila University team B composed of Nicolo Fortuna (II- BS Communications Technology), Bharat Keswani (I- BA Management Economics) and Edbert Ragadio (II- BS Management Engineering).

In the grand finals debate about time travel and changing the events in the past and the future, UPD A argued that if ever the technology exists, it is the responsibility of the human race to save the lives lost from catastrophic events such as the Holocaust and the world wars, and ensure that humanity's moral values are upheld throughout generations. ADMU B, on the other hand, said the events that happened in the past serve as a concrete reminder and motivation for humanity to seek what is right, and that they provide valuable lessons for the future.

UPD A won via an 8-1 decision, with Inting emerging as the grand finals and tournament best speaker.

Meanwhile, Lee Gogo (IV- Bachelor of Laws) from Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan was proclaimed the best judge.

UPD A beat more than 60 teams from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to secure UPD's third consecutive PIDC title.

"Just like any victory, the championship cannot be claimed by a single person or a team- it was UP's. We were privileged to compete under UP Debate Society's name so we just did what we could," Inting said.

Next month, ADMU and UPD will jointly host the fourth United Asians Debating Championship, the biggest regional debate tournament in the Asian parliamentary format. Participating teams include those from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, among others.