Christian Brotherhood International (CBI) officers in the Ecclesiastical District of Central, Philippines, organized a debate workshop on March 1, 2025 at New Era University (NEU) Media Center. Attendees were introduced to the basics of argumentation and debate and focus was given to the Oxford-Oregon style of debate.

Former president of New Era Political Science Society in 2022 and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science graduate Era Mae Millar served as the resource speaker.

“Oxford-Oregon is a widely used debate format helpful in analyzing the necessity, benefit, or practicality of a topic being discussed,” shared district CBI officer Kurt Bryan Rano, a third-year college student in the University of the Philippines (UP)–Diliman. “We wanted to encourage our fellow students to join and excel in debate competitions,” he added.

For NEU college sophomore Princess Izzy Marmita, “the workshop is beneficial to me as my course requires me to engage in healthy discussions, make arguments about a certain topic to provide a solution. I learned effective ways of conveying my thoughts and presenting my arguments, and what makes up a team of debate competitors in this format.”

“I learned from the workshop that debate competitors must observe respect towards one another. Although our critical thinking is being tested and measured when in a debate, it is also important to regard the ethics of debating, one of which is respect even to opposing teams,” said second-year NEU college student John Dwyane Paraiso.

On behalf of CBI officers in Central District, district director Aldrei Vohn Aquino said, “We will continue guiding our fellow INC students in their academic performance and, most importantly, in the performance of duties that please God.” — With reports from Princess Izzy Marmita