In the 'Status Quo' of things, Xavier School is renowned for its hard-core sports retinue and lineups.  Moreover, Xavier is a known powerhouse in competitions such as basketball, bowling, table tennis, and whatnots. But that's not all!  Xavier is also known in debate circles as having one of Manila's best debate teams, a reputation they painstakingly earned by conquering one debate after another.

      For over two decades, Xavier School has harbored the existence of its own debate society, namely the Xavier Debate Team (XDT).  While not exactly considered a varsity, it nevertheless represents the school in various prestigious tournaments all over Manila.  Throughout the years, the XDT has won many tournaments, the most recent being the San Beda Economics Debate Tournament held last September, and the IDEA Grand-Finals held last March.  Also, the XDT is known for its alumni who have become Asia 's best college debaters, namely Carl Ng and Reginald Lee.

      This year, the XDT has in its roster 3 seniors, 7 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 4 freshmen debaters.  To say the least, the Xavier debaters are a talented lot of people who find debating a fun experience.   Recently, though, the team has had to encounter difficulties such as having venues for them to train in, and finding adequate funding for them to compete.

      The present XDT members have participated in the Inquirer Interschool Debate Championship (IISDC), the largest annual debate tournament in the country, last 6-8 November 2004 at the Ateneo de Manila University grounds.  During this tournament, feisty debaters from all over the country battled each other with their wits and mouths, and debated over issues ranging from Economics and Ethics to Terrorists and Genetically Modified Organisms.

      The XDT has made Xavierl proud since two of the top 10 teams in the IISDC were Xavier's, and three of the top 32 ‘breaking' teams were XDT's very own.  Of the three teams that passed the elimination rounds, two teams got to the quarterfinals, and one of those teams managed to get to the semi-finals.  Also, Ervin Cezar, a Senior debater of the XDT, was cited as the 6 th Best Speaker during the closing ceremonies of the tournament.  That means the 6 th best High School debater around is studying in our alma mater!

      This just goes to show how potent the Xavier Debate Team is, and how it still makes the school proud in its own humble way. Hear, hear!

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