MSU DMS newbies clash against SKSU debaters in friendly match

Mindanao State University (MSU) College of Law General Santos extension campus Debate and Moot Society (DMS) accepted the invitation of Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) to a friendly debate held today, November 5, 2022, at Sultan Kudarat State University's main campus in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.

The MSU's team was composed of first year law students namely, Jaymark P. Biboso for necessity, Stanley O. Facturan for beneficiality, and Justin Ian P. Doctor for practicability.

For SKSU, the law student debaters were second year, namely, Michael Roy Jordan Talamor for necessity, fourth year Eden Tusoy for beneficiality, and third year Art Jade Baldelovar for practicability.

The MSU stood in the affirmative and argued for the unconstitutionality of some of the provisions of the SIM Card Registration Law while SKSU argued for its constitutionality.

The MSU's arguments centered on why the law should still be declared unconstitutional despite the unquestionable wisdom of why it was passed—to stop the proliferation of phishing scams through unregistered SIM cards.

The affirmative resorted to a facial challenge of the law on the ground of overbreadth and vagueness of some of its provisions, particularly on private telecommunication entities having storage and control of data and how the automatic deactivation of SIM cards for failure to register within 180 days is aportioning a quasi-judicial function to the private sector, among others.

On the other hand, the SKSU proceeded with their prepared speeches on the wisdom of the law and the supposed preferential effects it has against cybercrime, to mention a few.

Also, the team argued that the law should not be declared unconstitutional as it prevents phishing scams and is a valid exercise of a State's regulatory powers, in line with the State's duty to protect the people from text related scams.

The highest pointer of the match was Justine Ian P. Doctor who was also the Best Debater. Meanwhile, the Best Speaker award was given to Eden Tusoy.

The SKSU won the friendly match by a small margin of points.

The friendly debate between the MSU and the SKSU is part of the latter's Conflict of Laws celebration, which is the said DMS team members' first inter-school debate experience just less than a month after joining DMS.