''Square Off'' is a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

program broadcast on the

ABS-CBN News Channel ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News. The channel is ...

(ANC). It broadcasts every Friday at 6:00 pm PST, with replays throughout the week. The show is hosted by Maiki Oreta and is primarily sponsored by the ''Philippine Graphic''. Most participants in ''Square Off'' are college-level and law school debaters from various universities around the Philippines debating on important socio-political issues dominating the Philippine landscape. However, some episodes had

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

s or other influential figures participate in the debates debating on the same issues. In 2007, as part of its involvement in the

World Universities Debating Championship The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the world's largest debating tournament and one of the largest annual international student events in the world. WUDC is held in the British Parliamentary Debate format (involving four team ...

(WUDC), the program recently rebranded itself as ''Square Off: The Philippine Debate Championship''. The winning university participating in the current season will proceed to Assumption University in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, the location of WUDC 2008, to represent the Philippines. In 2008, "Square Off: The CVC Law Debates" airs Wednesdays at 8 pm and features law school teams - classic arch rivals

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

and

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

. The new season of "Square Off" was sponsored by Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco (CVC Law). Host Twink Macaraig (Moved to TV5) explained: "The enhanced opportunity for direct challenges or head-to-head confrontations - not only by the opposing teams but the judges, too - guarantees a more dynamic and stimulating experience for participants and spectators alike." Legal luminaries and incumbent trial court judges will serve as adjudicators to boost the "fear factor" element of the competition.

Format

''Square Off'' debates are in modified

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

format, with only two speakers, three-minute constructive speeches, 30-second one-question cross-examination periods, and 1.5-minute rebuttal speeches. However, episodes leading to WUDC 2008 use a modified form of the British Parliamentary format, with only the first four speakers of the opening sides of the house participating, although speeches still remain at the standard seven minutes. Episodes broadcast in the run-up to the

Asian Universities Debating Championship The All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championships was an annual debating tournament for teams from universities in Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own ...

used a modified Asian Parliamentary format, with five-minute speeches. Currently, as part of the CVC Law Debates, ''Square Off'' uses a modified Policy format with five-minute constructive and 2.5-minute cross-examination speeches. At the end of each debate, an adjudicator (for Policy format) or a panel of adjudicators (for British Parliamentary format) determine the winning speaker or, in British Parliamentary debates, the best speaker and the winning team. An audience poll conducted via

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...

also determines the "audience's choice" for the winning speaker or best speaker of the debate, although the audience poll does not affect the final result of the debate. On March 13, 2020, the program is suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and eventually cancelled due to the shutdown of ABS-CBN.

Finals

Ateneo de Davao University , mottoeng = Strong in Faith , type = Private Catholic Research Non-profit Coeducational Basic and Higher education institution , established = , founder = Society of Jesus , religious ...

on October 1, 2008, ousted

Saint Louis University, Baguio City Saint Louis University (; tl, Pamantasan ng San Luis) also referred to by its acronym SLU, is a private Catholic research basic and higher education institution run by the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baguio, Philippines. ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

's “Square Off: the CVC Law Debates”. The topic was "legalization of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

in the Philippines," with St. Louis for legalization. Adjudicators Atty. Rodel Cruz, Senior Partner of Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco (CVC Law), and Senate President

Franklin Drilon Franklin Magtunao Drilon (born November 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines (tied with Lorenzo Tañada, Tito Sotto and incumbent Loren Legarda), having served four no ...

bestowed Ateneo de Davao's Hanniyah Sevilla and Kristine Ferrer, the best speaker, and best texter's choice awards, respectively. Ateneo will face

Arellano University Arellano University (AU) is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded in 1938 as a law school by Florentino Cayco Sr., the first Filipino Undersecretary of Public Instruction. The univer ...

in the October 8 finals at

, 8-9 p.m.

Law Forensic Guild debating team was declared the Winner and Champion, taking home Acer

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s and the

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

Lex Libris Law Library Series. Arellano's Rochelle Marie C. Roxas, Luis Warren and Charles Francis Decangchon, opposed the proposition that "term limits of elective officials should be lifted." It impeccably contradicted

Ateneo de Davao Ateneo may refer to: Cultural institutions * Ateneo de la Juventud, a society of Mexican writers, philosophers and intellectuals * Ateneo de Madrid, a private cultural institution located in the capital of Spain * Ateneo de Ponce, a nonprofit, ...

's 2 main arguments. The partners of Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco (CVC Law), namely former Philippine Secretary of Defense Avelino "Nonong" Cruz Jr., former Philippine Ombudsman Simeon V. Marcelo, and Senior Partner Raoul R. Angangco, bestowed upon Arellano's Luis Anthony K. Warren, the Judges' and Texters' Choice awards for Best Speaker, winning an LG Viewty cameraphone, a trophy and a 3-day trip for 2 to Boracay. The Best Speaker's scores were tied between Luis Warren and ADDU's Therese Gemelo. CVC Law's Arthur Villaraza announced: "These debates are worth doing again. We will do this again."

The A.U.D.C.

ANC began airing "Square Off: The A.U.D.C.", every Wednesday at 8 p.m. starting October 22, 2008. College-level teams-champion student debaters struggle to be chosen representatives of their school and the Philippines in the 2009

(AUDC) in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. "Square Off: The A.U.D.C." follows the Asian Parliamentary Debate format: the House will consist of government and opposition teams of 3 members each, with 3 judges choosing the best speaker based on matter, manner, and method. AUDC champions, Team Philippines and Team Australia opened the series with

's Sharmila Parmanand, filing a motion for legalization of terrorist suspects. The Australians emerged victorious in the "special exhibition debate" round, on October 22. Chief adjudicator Ashok Rai, adjudicators Logan Balavijendran and Jason Jarvis presided and commended Team Australia's Lucia Pietropaoli who was bestowed the Best Speaker award for the exhibition match.

Frank-ahan: The Drilon Debates

sponsored an all-expense-paid trip to the AUDC, dubbed as "Frank-ahan: The Drilon Debates," with 22 Philippine schools participating.

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

eventually won the Championship beating Ateneo de Manila University. The DLSU team was composed of Dino de Leon, Bianca Lagdameo and Robin Sebolino. The Defeated ADMU team, on the other hand, was composed of Miko Biskocho, Stephanie Co and Gica Mangahas. The Grand Finals was adjudicated by Bar top-notchers Arlene Maneja and Joane de Venecia, Bulacan Councilor Ricky dela Cruz, World Public Speaking Champion Patricia de Venecia, and former Senate President Franklin Drilon.abs-cbnnews.com, 22 schools join Square Off's 'Frank-ahan'
/ref>

References

{{reflist ABS-CBN News Channel original programming 2006 Philippine television series debuts 2020 Philippine television series endings 2000s Philippine television series 2010s Philippine television series 2020s Philippine television series English-language television shows