Philippine Schools Debate Championship

The Philippine Schools Debate Championship (PSDC) is an annual English-language debate tournament for high school-level teams from the Philippines. It is hosted by Ateneo de Manila University's Ateneo Debate Society (ADS) and its debates are conducted in the British Parliamentary Style. From its inception in 2002, it has become one of the two most prestigious Philippine national competitions for high school debaters, the other being the National Asians High School Debate Championship (NAsHDC) hosted by De La Salle University-Manila's La Salle Debate Society.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer became the primary sponsor of the tournament in 2003, at which point it was called the Inquirer-2bU! Interscholastic Debating Championship (IISDC). Recently the Inquirer ended its long-standing agreement with the ADS and the name reverted to PSDC in 2007. It is also regularly sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Tournament format

PSDC Debates are held in the British Parliamentary Style. The tournament uses the Swiss system for deciding matchups between competing teams in the preliminary rounds. The 32 highest scoring teams then advance (or "break") to the finals series, where the first and second placed teams in each round advance to the next highest levels of competition. A team cap (or limit on the number of breaking teams from one institution) of FIVE teams is imposed.

In 2004 a regional championship for the PSDC was introduced, to give teams from outside Metro Manila more representation at the higher levels of competition. As these teams began to show in the regular break, this championship was discontinued.

An extemporaneous public speaking competition is also held alongside the debate rounds. This competition has its own preliminary, semifinal, and final rounds.

In 2008, a secondary tournament for the PSDC was introduced. Teams eligible for this final were those from institutions that never had a team in the final round of the PSDC. The round is a battle of the top four eligible teams. The final has been christened the Ana Alano Cup, in memory of the Ateneo Debater who had died defending her father in a hit against him for attempting to expose a hospital corruption scandal.

Speakers from teams who have broken in the tournament are considered eligible to try out for a slot in the Philippine team to the World Schools Debating Championships.

Past champions

Year	Champions	Team Members		Ana Alano Cup Champions	Team Members
2002	Ateneo de Manila High School	Marco Villacorta	Michael Biscocho
2003	Philippine Science High School - Diliman Campus	Anna Santos	Juanchi Pablo
2004	Ateneo de Manila High School	Michael Biscocho	Adrian Mundin
2005	Immaculate Conception Academy	Jennifer Ong	Krisha Borromeo
2006	Miriam College High School	Angelica Mangahas	Carla Sia
2007	Xavier School	Evan Chen	Peterson Poon
2008	Colegio San Agustin-Makati	Joshua Lim	Allan Cabrera	La Salle Green Hills	Brian Llamanzares	Daryl Isla
2009	Ateneo de Manila High School	Henry Fernando	Bas Claudio	Silliman University	Julius Ragay	Jay Anderson
2010	Ateneo de Manila High School	Jovin Pizarro	Bas Claudio	San Beda College Alabang	Katherine Peralta	Adolfo Jose Montesa
2011	Immaculate Conception Academy	Joan Ongchoco	Denise Recomono	FAGOTS UNITED	Miko "BAYOT" Alazas	Ralph "BLACK NIGER" Gonzales
2012	Xavier School	Donald Felbaum	Raynard Lao	PAREF Springdale School	Jeremy Sison	Jerome Mejarito

Past best speakers in debate and public speaking

Year	Best Speaker (Preliminary Debate Rounds)	Best Speaker (Debate Finals)	Best Speaker (Public Speaking)
2002	Charisse Borromeo (Immaculate Conception Academy)
2003	Charisse Borromeo (Immaculate Conception Academy)		Victor Tence (Southville International School)
2004	Michael Biscocho (Ateneo de Manila High School)
2005	Angelica Mangahas (Miriam College High School)	Anna Arcellana (Miriam College High School)
2006	Angelica Mangahas (Miriam College High School) and Peterson Poon (Xavier School)	Carla Sia (Miriam College High School)	Genica Endaluz (St. Theresa's College)
2007	Peterson Poon (Xavier School)	Peterson Poon (Xavier School)	Nicole Gaba (PAREF Woodrose School)
2008	Phillip Poon (Xavier School)	Allan Cabrera (Colegio San Agustin-Makati)	Mark Escay (La Salle Green Hills)
2009	Bas Claudio (Ateneo de Manila High School)	Henry Fernando (Ateneo de Manila High School)	Dwight Garvy Tan (Ateneo de Naga University)
2010	Tiffany Uy (Immaculate Conception Academy)	Tiffany Uy (Immaculate Conception Academy)	Mikey Onglao (PAREF Southridge School)
2011	Andrei Buendia (San Beda College Alabang)	Joan Ongchoco (Immaculate Conception Academy)	Raynard Lao (Xavier School)
2012	Miguel Ventura (Ateneo de Manila High School)	Donald Felbaum (Xavier School)	Kitkat Cuenca (PAREF Woodrose)