Beating Ateneo de Manila in the grand finals, Ateneo de Davao College of Law makes history after being declared as the champion in the Season 9 of the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) Square-Off: The Firm Debates, telecast live from the ABS-CBN’s Dolphy Theatre on March 27, 2015.
The AdDU Law Forensic Team, composed of John Frederick Derije (4th year), Karina Ana Bote (3rd year), and Ria Danielle Lumapas (2nd year), argued in the affirmative side of the proposition “Let it be resolved that the TRO issued by the Court of Appeals to restrain the preventive suspension of Makati Mayor Jun Jun Binay is not moot and academic.”
By a unanimous vote of the judges, including former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Comelec spokesperson Atty. James Jimenez, and three partners of the V&A Law Firm, Ateneo de Davao was declared as the season’s champion, vesting other law schools in the country. Bote was also awarded Audience’s Choice for Best Speaker, while Lumapas was chosen as the Judges’ Choice for Best Speaker.
Before reaching the final round, the AdDU Law Forensic Team defeated San Beda College Alabang, St. Louis University, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in a series of elimination rounds.
The AdDU Law Forensic Team is headed by its coach and moderator, Atty. Vincent C. Juan, and also its President, Kyrie Dea Maia T. Genolos (3rd Year). As the law debate and mooting society of the Ateneo de Davao College of Law, the AdDU Law Forensic is also advised by Dean Manuel Quibod, and faculty advisers, including Atty. Vincent Paul Montejo, Atty. Jose Paolo Evangelista, Atty. Caesar Europa, Atty. Melissa Romana Suarez, Atty. Jess Zachael Espejo, Atty. Ramon Edison Batacan, and Atty. Percy Donalvo.
With this national achievement happening on the same week that the AdDU Law produced new lawyers, one of them, Gil Garcia, ranked 4th in the 2014 bar examination, AdDU Law offered a thanksgiving mass on March 30, 2015 at the AdDU College Chapel.
