THE UST Law Debate and Moot Society won two awards in the Philip C. Jessup Cup on March 3, earning a spot in the international rounds where it will represent the Philippines along with four other teams.
Civil Law students Gabrielle Tirol, John Paul de los Reyes, Gerome Austria, Ian Quiambao, and John Anndrew Tenecio emerged as runners-up in the competition, with Quiambao clinching the Best Oralist award in the championship round.
The victory marked UST’s first since 2020, when it also achieved a first-runner-up finish in the national competition co-organized by the Faculty of Civil Law and DivinaLaw, the law firm of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina.
Austria said the team drew inspiration from previous UST debaters who were set to compete abroad before the event was called off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Their journey, though cut short, inspired us to continue what they started — to carry not only our own dreams but the unfulfilled promise of those who came before us,” he told the Varsitarian.
“This win is as much theirs as it is ours, and it is a testament to the unwavering spirit of the Thomasian community,” he added.
The UST team will compete in the international rounds to be organized by international firm White & Case LLP on March 29 to April 5, 2025 at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington.
Students from the University of San Agustin, which bagged the national championship in the moot court competition, and teams from the University of San Carlos, University of the Philippine, and Ateneo de Zamboanga University will also represent the Philippines.
A cash prize of P50,000 was given to the top team, while the first runner-up received P20,000. The Best Oralist in the championship won P10,000, while other awardees received P5,000.
With less than a month before the international round, the UST team will have to prepare with intensity and discipline to be able to compete against the top teams from around the world, Austria said.
“As we set our eyes on the White & Case International Rounds, our preparation will still be grounded in the same determination and discipline which carried us through the national rounds, but with even greater intensity,” he said.
The competition was also held in partnership with the Philippine Association of Law Schools, the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines International Law and International Affairs Committee.
Founded in 1960, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the largest moot court competition in the world, with participants coming from some 700 law schools across 100 countries.
It simulates disputes between participating countries and schools, where teams have to prepare oral and written pleadings to argue both the applicant and respondent positions before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ judicial organ.
