FOR the first time since 1988, Filipino high school students emerged victorious in the 2021 World Schools Debate Championships.

Nelson Leung, a Grade 12 student from the Philippine Science High School-Cordillera Administrative Region campus, bagged the Overall Speaker title after obtaining an average score of 73.17 in eight preliminary rounds.

Leung bested 372 other students from around the world, known best debaters of Canada and Singapore.

Meanwhile, David Bloom of the International School of Manila, Jake Peralta of Southridge High School, and Riva Fong of the De La Salle Zobel ranked 4th, 6th, and 11th, best speakers respectively.

The Philippines also bagged the bronze medal by reaching the semifinals for the second time since 2012.

Organized and hosted by Macau, the 2021 WSDC was participated in by 76 countries and was held virtually from July 26 to August 6.

Established in 1988, WSDC is considered to be the “Olympics of high school debate” by debate societies. It uses the World Schools format, the global standard for high school debating.