The votes are in.
The 15th Executive Committee of the UP Debate Society (UPDS) is now comprised of the new UPDS President Sabrina-Laya Gacad (III BS Econ), Vice President for Membership and Administration Bernard Joseph Guererro (III BA Eng Stud), Vice President for Training and Tryouts Diane Claire Jiao (II BA Journ), Vice President for Educational Affairs Melissa Sayoc (II BS BE), Vice President for Finance Katherine Diaz (III BA Pol Sci), and Vice President for Public Relations Jessica Hermosa (III BA Journ).
“Debsoc couldn’t have produced a better set,” said outgoing UPDS President Nicolo Cabrera.
Gacad was last year’s Educational Affairs Committee (EACom) VP. She won over Ma. Theresa Grajo, former Training and Tryouts Committee (TNT) VP, for the presidency. Guererro, the former Assistant Vice President (AVP) of the Membership and Administration Committee (MAC), beat Richard Beltran for the Vice Presidency. Jiao, last year’s TNT AVP, won over Richard Heydarian wile Diaz won over Niña Alquiroz. Meanwhile Hermosa and Sayoc were unopposed.
The new Execom proposed numerous plans in their General Programs of Action and during the Miting de Avance. “I expect everyone to work—follow-through with their respective promises and make sure everyone does the same,” said Gacad.
Less than a month in the job, the members of the new Execom are already planning what to make of next year.
“Next year, I want TNT to focus on making training the top priority of both debaters and adjudicators. Also, the committee needs to make tryouts an effective means of assessing the skill and determining the composition of our contingent,” said Jiao.
Diaz of Fincom, on the other hand, is raring to raise funds for UPDS.
“I want (Fincom) to be as instrumental in sending our members to a competition, as the other committees are in preparing them for it,” she said.
For the MAC committee, Guerrero said, “The approach that I want with MAC is this: achieve the best outcome with minimal effort. MAC will see to it that quality efficiency in administration and task fulfillment be continued and further enhanced.”
The PR Committee, meanwhile, will be "increasing its efforts towards improving UPDS external relations".
"A new UPDS publication is also in the works, so people should watch out for that,” said Hermosa of PR.
Sayoc, in turn, said that there must be “a more assertive EACom that actively promotes debating.”
“We’re going to be like the UPDS’ socio-civic arm, enriching as many people as we can through debate education,” Sayoc added.
The Execom elections were held last February 28, under the supervision of the UPDS Commission on Elections, comprised of Cabrera, Celeni Guinto, Joan Caccam and Norman Cualteros.