The Mindanao Railway Project is an infrastrucutre project currently under planning intended to connect the major cities of Mindanao via railway similar to the MRT or LRT in Metro Manila

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the first election of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was scheduled on May 2025. However, on December 18, 2024, the House of Representatives voted to defer the election to May 2026, attributing the delay to necessary substantial legislative corrections due to recent actions such as the exclusion of Sulu from BARMM. While the BARMM interim parliament favors a postponement, various sectors in the region are against it.

The value-based care model is a healthcare model where healthcare providers are paid based on patient health outcomes rather than the volume of services provided. This features payment models with fixed payments per patient, bundled payments for all services, or performance-based incentives tied to quality and outcomes.

SCOPUS refers to the Elsevier owned database which indexes scientific journals based on criteria such as Journal Policy (Type of peer review, diversity of editors, etc.), Content (Quality and Contribution to the field), and Readability (Using English language).

Due to its reputation, SCOPUS has become a metric for the prestige and robustness of a university's output, used in rankings such as the THE World University rankings, among others.

SCOPUS-Centrism refers to the incentivizing of researchers by Research Institutions to pursue SCOPUS publications via: financial incentives for authors, criteria for career and educational progression, and funding the development of journals aimed at being indexed by SCOPUS.

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institution is the sole government agency under DOST mandated to promote, advance, and regulate safe and peaceful applications of nuclear science in the Philippines since 1958. This involves providing facilities and services for the following fields of research: Nuclear Physics, Food and Agriculture, Health and Medicine, Materials Science, and Nuclear Energy.

For the purpose of this debate, Innovation refers to the production of Intellectual Property (Patents, Utility models, etc.) in accordance with the Intellectual Property Code, and development of new products or processes of manufacturing.

Examples include the Galansiyang startup developing drones for reforestation seed planting, and the Ginhawa ReliefVent Ventilator.

Research refers to scientific investigations into the basic properties of phenomena (i.e. string theory, statistical mechanics, biophysics, etc.) for the purpose of generating knowledge and publications in scientific journals.

Scientific training includes, but is not limited to, undergraduate and graduate degrees in scientific and technological fields (i.e physics, chemistry, agriculture, computer science, etc.) as well as research programs.

An aging population refers to a demographic shift where there are more elderly individuals (often 65 years and older) compared to those who belong in the younger demographic, often because of longer life expectancies and declining birth rates. This is common among developed countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, and USA. Recently, this trend has been observed in developing countries like the Philippines, India, Thailand, Mexico, and Turkey.

For the purpose of this debate, Overseas Economic Dependency (OED) is the resulting phenomenon from national economic policies and strategies (ex. deployment of workers abroad, special tax rates for OFW remittances, allowing foreign direct investments) that entails significant dependency to income or capital originating overseas.

You are a middle-aged professional with a successful career of your choosing, a well-balanced investment portfolio, married to the love of your life with two wonderful kids. You live in an 800-square-meter house with a pet cat, and this has been your world for as long as you can remember. But one night, as your bedside lamp flickers, something shifts. In that moment, you realize the truth: your physical body is actually in a coma. Everything you've experienced until now has been a creation of your mind, a life imagined in the quiet depths of unconsciousness.

The real you is a graduating queer student-leader from a renowned Mindanao university, privileged to study on a state scholarship with a binding obligation—after graduation, you must give back through years of service. You are a candidate for the highest graduation awards and latin honors. Upon graduation, your primary goal is to become your family’s breadwinner, with the hope of lifting them out of poverty.

The decision is final, irreversible, and whatever you choose, you’ll remember both realities forever.

Intelligence is a quantifiable resource measured by cognitive ability, problem-solving skills, creativity, and knowledge retention. Every individual starts with the same intellectual capacity but earning intelligence depends on the decisions and opportunities you choose to take in life. Advanced technology enables intelligence to be transferred and stored among individuals, to the point that there are intelligence exchange systems where it is bought and sold.

For the purposes of this debate, being lucky means that the probability of success is greater, i.e. a 1/5 chance for others is a 2/5 chance for you.

Unilateral action refers to policies or decisions implemented solely by the president without explicit approval or collaboration of the legislative and judicial branches. These often come in the form of absolute and conditional pardons, executive orders and agreements, and national security directives.

SCOPUS refers to the Elsevier owned database which indexes scientific journals based on criteria such as Journal Policy (Type of peer review, diversity of editors, etc.), Content (Quality and Contribution to the field), and Readability (Using English language).

Due to its reputation, SCOPUS has become a metric for the prestige and robustness of a university's output, used in rankings such as the THE World University rankings, among others.

SCOPUS-Centrism refers to the incentivizing of researchers by Research Institutions to pursue SCOPUS publications via: financial incentives for authors, criteria for career and educational progression, and funding the development of journals aimed at being indexed by SCOPUS.

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institution is the sole government agency under DOST mandated to promote, advance, and regulate safe and peaceful applications of nuclear science in the Philippines since 1958. This involves providing facilities and services for the following fields of research: Nuclear Physics, Food and Agriculture, Health and Medicine, Materials Science, and Nuclear Energy.

For the purpose of this debate, Innovation refers to the production of Intellectual Property (Patents, Utility models, etc.) in accordance with the Intellectual Property Code, and development of new products or processes of manufacturing.

Examples include the Galansiyang startup developing drones for reforestation seed planting, and the Ginhawa ReliefVent Ventilator.

Research refers to scientific investigations into the basic properties of phenomena (i.e. string theory, statistical mechanics, biophysics, etc.) for the purpose of generating knowledge and publications in scientific journals.

Scientific training includes, but is not limited to, undergraduate and graduate degrees in scientific and technological fields (i.e physics, chemistry, agriculture, computer science, etc.) as well as research programs.

The narrative "If he wanted to, he would" conveys the idea that genuine care and prioritization are demonstrated through deliberate action. Conversely, a lack of action is often interpreted as a lack of desire or interest. This narrative gained popularity on TikTok, where users—predominantly women—shared videos showcasing thoughtful gestures from their partners, such as buying flowers or planning elaborate dates, often accompanied by this caption.

Dev is a graduating physics student from Mindanao, and has been in a long term long distance relationship with Denise for the past 3 years, who lives in a different municipality. Dev has received 2 offers upon graduation: an international scholarship for a graduate degree as a researcher in Japan, and as an instructor in a local prestigious mindanao institution in Denise's municipality.

An aging population refers to a demographic shift where there are more elderly individuals (often 65 years and older) compared to those who belong in the younger demographic, often because of longer life expectancies and declining birth rates. This is common among developed countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, and USA. Recently, this trend has been observed in developing countries like the Philippines, India, Thailand, Mexico, and Turkey.

For the purpose of this debate, Overseas Economic Dependency (OED) is the resulting phenomenon from national economic policies and strategies (ex. deployment of workers abroad, special tax rates for OFW remittances, allowing foreign direct investments) that entails significant dependency to income or capital originating overseas.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the United States' Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) Act enables the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets frozen in the US, redirecting these funds to Ukraine. The European Union has frozen approximately €220B in Russian central bank reserves but has not adopted the confiscation approach, citing the sovereign immunity principle which protects states and its assets from being sued or seized without its consent. Instead, the EU has explored alternatives, such as using the interest generated and revenue through targeted taxation mechanisms, to support Ukraine.

Identity politics refers to discussions centered around a person’s identity. In the context of US politics, it pertains to the identities of ethnic, religious, and racial minorities, women, and the queer community.

"Cowboys" are independent bounty hunters who operate outside the conventional justice system, guided by a personal code of honor and autonomy, unlike traditional bounty hunters motivated purely by profit.They are hired to capture criminals for bounties and receive compensation for successful captures. While law enforcement agencies may have limited resources and bureaucratic constraints, Cowboys provide a more flexible and incentivized approach to capturing criminals.

In EPIC: The Musical, Telemachus, the prince of Ithaca, has spent his life on his Island protecting his mother, Penelope, from harm against suitors who want to become king. After twenty years of being missing, his father Odysseus has returned and has killed the suitors, ensuring Penelope's safety.

Telemachus has lived his life under the shadow of Odysseus's legacy and dreams of becoming legendary himself (i.e. slaying harpies and chimeras, minotaurs or even Cerberus). For the purpose of this debate, Odysseus's return makes Telemachus the expected successor of the throne, thus forcing him to continue to stay on the Island majority of his life.

Silco is the powerful and ruthless leader of Zaun, an impoverished area under the oppressive rule of the nation of Piltover, where poverty, crime, and addiction are rampant. He seeks to liberate them from Piltover, willing to resort to brutal and unethical methods to achieve that goal.

Recently, Silco's adoptive daughter, Jinx, committed a terrorist attack against Piltover escalating tensions between the nations. The Piltover Council is willing to give Zaun blanket amnesty, access to trade routes, and freedom, essentially securing its independence. In exchange for this, Silco has to surrender Jinx to Piltover.

A problem-posing model emphasizes student-teacher dialogue and contextualized learning. In this model, discussions are heavily based on and directed by students’ lived experiences. For example, history lessons will be taught based on the contexts of their localities.

An autonomous body is characterized by high degrees of self-governance, financial and administrative independence, and fixed terms of office. Examples include the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Constitutional Commissions like the Civil Service Commission (CSC), COMELEC, and the Commission on Audit (CoA).

A locus of control describes the degree to which individuals believe they have control over the outcomes of events in their own lives. People with an internal locus of control believe that their decisions and efforts are directly responsible for the outcomes of their actions. Meanwhile, people with an external locus of control put heavier emphasis on the role of external forces such as luck, fate, and the actions of other people.