The British Parliamentary Format From the word itself, the format was taken from the earlier

method of British Parliament whenever an important policy is being debated. The British Parliamentary is one of the most complicated format in the debating community, but once mastered, it is the most efficient and effective way of debating. It follows a pros and cons sequence and the adjudicator determines the winner of the debate. A. TEAMS AND DEBATERS: In the British Parliamentary Format of Debate there are four (4) teams, each with two (2), debaters simultaneously debating in one round. Two teams are with the Government side, the first being the Opening Government (OG) and the second being the Closing Government (CG). There are also two team in Opposition, the Opening Opposition (OO) and the second being the Closing Opposition (CO). Although there are two teams in both sides, all four are competing to be the victor. The game is to become better than the other. The winner is determined by the adjudicator. The adjudicator will rank the teams according to preference, 3 points for the 1st place, 2 points for the 2nd place, 1 point for the 3rd place and no point for the 4th. Points are then computed at the end of the elimination and teams with the most points will advance to the octo-finals round. Debaters, however, are given individual points (range of 70 being the lowest and 80 being the best). The Teams will give points as well on how good or awful the adjudicator in explaining who won the debate. The Adjudication core will determine the team-ups and the match ups. They will also provide the motion for the debate and which adjudicator will be for each round. GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION

OPENING GOVERNMENT 1. Prime Minister 2. Deputy Prime Minister CLOSING GOVERNMENT 1. Member of the Government 2. Government Whip

OPENING OPPOSITION 1. Leader of the Opposition 2. Deputy Leader CLOSING OPPOSITION 1. Member of the Opposition 2. Opposition Whip

B. THE GOVERNMENT SIDE: The Government side has two teams. The Opening Government and the Closing Government. The role of each debaters are as follows: 1.) Prime Minister 2.) Deputy Prime Minister 3.) Member of the Government (sometimes Member of the Crown) and 4.) Government Whip. The role of the Opening Government is to establish the motion being debated. Set parameters of the debate and introduce arguments. While the role of the Closing Government is to support, or sometimes challenge the definitions provided by the Opening Government. The Closing Government, if they want to support the definition of the OG, they should provide a better perspective on the motion given, supplementing the arguments of the OG, and rebut the arguments of the Opposition. The Prime Minister opens the debate. He/she provides the definition of terms and sets the parameters of the debate. He/she introduces arguments and establish the common ground of the Government side. The Prime Minister speaks for 7 minutes, including the greetings and all other aspects of his/her constructive speech. It is, therefore, advisable for the Prime Minister to give 1 or 2 arguments. The Deputy Prime Minister supports the Prime Minister. He/She reviews the definition and parameters and use this to rebut the Leader of the Opposition for the arguments the latter presented. The introduction of arguments of the Deputy Prime Minister determines the validity and factuality of the arguments presented by the Prime Minister. The DPM speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. The Member of the Government opens the arguments of the Closing Government. The arguments of the MG shall determine the direction the Closing Government would like to follow, whether prescribe to the definition

as set by the OG or challenge it. The MG is crucial to the debate because it will deter the Opposition from the further challenging the definition of the Government side. The MG is at the middle point of the debate, hence, the MG shall set the tone already to who will win the debate. The MG speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. The role of the Government Whip is to sum up the arguments presented by the Government side. He/she shall persuade the adjudicator that their side, the government as a whole, shall win the debate based on the arguments presented and identifying flaws made by the Opposition. The Government Whip is strictly not allowed to provide new arguments but is allowed to expound on the arguments presented by all speakers of their side. The Government Whip speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. C. THE OPPOSITION SIDE: The Opposition side, like the Government, has two teams. The Opening Opposition and the Closing Opposition. The role of each debaters are as follows: 1.) Leader of the Opposition 2.) Deputy Leader of the Opposition 3.) Member of the Opposition; and 4.) Opposition Whip. The role of each teams in the Opposition is similar to that of the Government side. The Opening Opposition sets the parameters of the Opposition side. The Opposition has also the option of challenging or accepting the definition presented by the Prime Minister. If the Opposition chooses to challenge the definition of the Government side, the burden of proving which has the better definition will determine the winner of the debate and will no longer debate on the merit of the argument. Hence, challenging the definition is advised only for advanced debaters. While, if the Opposition chooses to accept the definition by the Government side, they should present arguments which the government has failed to do. The Leader of the Opposition sets the parameters of the Opposition side. He/she will also determine whether to accept the definition of the Government side or challenge it. He/she then provide arguments suitable to

the position of the their side. The Leader of the Opposition speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition supports the case of the Leader of the Opposition by reviewing the parameters and the direction of the opposition. He/she also rebuts the arguments of the Prime Minister and provides his/her argument. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should present 3-4 arguments to put weight on the position of their team. Unless otherwise, the adjudicator will determine the DLO as being weak on the entire debate. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. The Member of the Opposition opens the argument of the Closing Opposition. Like the Member of the Government, the Member of the Opposition is crucial to the debate. His/her arguments shall set the tone of who is the better team to win on their side. The Member of the Opposition has also the option whether to accept the parameters set by the Opening Opposition or challenge it, hence, isolating or boxing-out the latter. In this case, the Closing Opposition should weigh more their arguments as why they are boxing out the Opening Opposition, and this burden relies to the MO. But if the Member of the Opposition accepts the parameters set by the Opening Opposition, he/she should present arguments better than that of the OO. The Member of the Opposition speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. The Opposition Whip is similar to that of the Government Whip. He/she summarizes the argument of the Opposition side. He/she also presents why their side should win and identify the flaws of the government side. Like the Government Whip, the Opposition Whip is not allowed to present new arguments but instead expound the cases presented by the Opposition side. The Opposition Whip speaks for 7 minutes for his/her constructive speech. GOVERNMENT OPENING GOVERNMENT 1. Prime Minister 3. Deputy Minister Prime OPPOSITION OPENING OPPOSITION 2. Leader of the Opposition 4. Deputy Leader

CLOSING GOVERNMENT 5. Member of the Government 7. Government Whip POINTS OF INFORMATION (POI):

CLOSING OPPOSITION 6. Member of the Opposition 8. Opposition Whip

The Points of Information or POIs are used to interject a debater in the middle of his/her speech to raise points, clarifications, questions or facts. In the British Parliamentary Format of Debate there are no interpellations, unlike in the Oregon Oxford Debate or Lincoln Douglas Format. Instead, the interaction of the debaters are within the POIs given by the other side. By virtue of the tournament, only opposing sides can present POIs to the speaker at hand. Meaning, the CG cannot give a POI to OG, the same way the OO cannot give POI to the OG, and vice versa. But the OO can give POI to both OG and CG and same on the other side. GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION

OPENING GOVERNME NT CLOSING GOVERNME NT

OPENING OPPOSITION CLOSING OPPOSITION

POIs are given for 15 seconds only, an interjection to the speaker. Hence, the prerogative of accepting the POI is determined by the speaker him/herself. However, it is advisable to all debaters to accept a minimum of two (2) POIs and maximum of four (4) POIs. POIs help determine the arguments of the other side while a speaker is establishing his/her case, giving an insight to what the arguments of the other side will be. Also, POIs distract the speaker, giving the other side a chance to delay the speech of the speaker, losing him/her time to establish facts and arguments. Therefore, using POIs help

establish the opposing side a better chance of ruining the arguments of the other side.

The use of POI is only allowed within after the first minute and before the last minute of the speech, meaning within the 5 minutes of the speakers constructive speech. The first minute is used to let the speaker establish his/her arguments, while the last minute is used to sum up his/her arguments. E. POINT SYSTEM: As prescribed under the general rules and guidelines of the British Parliamentary Debate, the points given for the teams are as follows: 3 points for the 1st place, 2 points for the 2nd place, 1 point for the 3rd place and no point for the 4th place. While for debaters, the point system will range from 70 being the poorest performance and 80 being the best. The average, therefore, is 75. In any Parliamentary Debate, it is very seldom to get a point of 80 and 70 at the same time. This is because on the preservation on the prestige of the Parliamentary Debates. For example, in the World Universities Debate Championship (WUDC), only a handful can get a point of 80 or beyond 80. While those who get a point of 70 are usually without any effort in debating or those immediately disqualified in a given round. Hence, adjudicators are advised to set a common standard that 75 is the average debater. Adjudicators are given a point system of 1 to 5. Five (5) being the highest and one (1) being the lowest. Point System Definition: 70 71 72 73 worse very bad bad okay

74
75 76 77 78 79 80

below average average above average better good very good excellent

At the end of the seven (7) elimination rounds, the points are summed up to determine teams who will proceed to the Octo finals. The top 32 teams will qualify to the Octo finals, and the point system will still be the same. There will be 3 rounds for the Octo finals and the top 8 teams will proceed to the semi finals round. There will be 2 rounds for the semi finals and the 4 team with the most wins will proceed to the Championship Round. In case there will be a tie in the win-lose points, the winner will be determined by the total points of the debaters. For every advancing round, the team points will return back to zero. But for individual points, points from the previous round shall be carried over. As for adjudicators, the same manner of identifying who will proceed to the octo-finals and semi-finals. However, adjudicators for the championship round will not include participants but invited individuals by the organizers. F. MOTIONS: What is more unique with the British Parliamentary Format is the nature of the motions given for every round. In the Oregon Oxford or Lincoln Douglas where motions are given at an ample time before the round and intensive research is needed. But in all Parliamentary Debates (British, Australasian, Asian, American) motions are given with in 15 25 minutes before the round, depending on the rules of the debate. In this tournament, motions will be given 20 minutes before the start of the round.

Motions will vary among the following topics:

* Politics and Government * Education * General Information * Religion * Sex and Gender * Environment * Economy * Culture * Entertainment and Show-bizness * Morality and Ethics

* International Affairs * Technology * Travel and Luxury * Sports * Food and Nutrition * Health * History * Literature * Business and Trade * Fine Arts

It is important therefore for debaters to have a wide knowledge of almost anything and everything under the sun. This kind of method will help develop students their critical thinking, reading skills, logic formulation and reasoning. But what is most important in this format is proving your case in a way relevant despite of the lack of comprehensive research. In the Parliamentary Debates, Motions are classified into three (3) categories, Value Judgment, Policy and Humor. It is important, therefore, for debaters to first determine whether the motion is a Value Judgment, Policy or Humor. In a Value Judgment Motion debaters argue on the importance or significance of a certain standard. The standard is considered as the status quo and debaters argue on its relevance in relation to the motion given. In a Policy debate, debaters argue on a yes no question or on a certain law or policy being put at hand. Both sides take on a defined position of pros and cons. Unlike in the Value Judgment debate, both sides may position that status quo is irrelevant, but the question of whether the quality of irrelevance can be argued, but on a policy debate both sides take on a definite position. The Humor Motion is usually taken up once after a series of Value Judgment or Policy motions. Humor rounds are considered a light round or light debate giving debaters a leeway to define the motion as how they want it to be. Motions for Humor round are usually abstract or phrases that doesnt make any sense at first glance. Humor round also include light issues and usually allow debaters to feel at ease on their proposition and definitions they want to have.

It is important for debaters to identify which kind of motion they are debating about because each category requires different methods of winning the debate. For Value Judgment, debaters have to consider status quo and the question of relevance. For Policy Debate, debaters have to provide a clear clash on their position whether they are for the motion or against it. Usually, in a Policy debate, teams in the Government side are pros and in the Opposition are cons. For Humor Round, debaters need to free themselves from the regular structure of debating and set their own definitions and standards based on how they want it to be and argue on the merit of the motion. In this way, debaters will have easier tasks of preparing their constructive speeches and limit their arguments to the confines of the motion.