Opening Speech for the Debate Adam Smith states, The capacities of individuals depended on their access to education.

Human Resource Development is the framework for helping employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human Resource Development includes such opportunities as employee training, employee career development, performance management and development and organization development. The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers. I would like to share to you some facts stated in Kittelson and Carpo Business Consulting on Philippine Labor and Workforce. According to them, The Filipino workforce is one of the most compelling advantages the Philippines has over any other Asian country. With higher education priority, the literacy rate in the country is 94.6% - among the highest. English is taught in all schools, making the Philippines the world's third largest Englishspeaking country. Every year, there are some 350,000 graduates enriching the professional pool. It seems that in first glance of these statistical data, the Philippines have this comparative advantage compared to our Asian neighbors and other emerging economies---or do we? Our government, through the enactment of Book II of the Labor Code acts as our personnel office who manages our workforce. With our economy growing that as a matter of fact, Golden Sachs Investment Bank included us in their N-11 or the Next 11 economies having high potential of becoming part of the worlds biggest economies in the 21st century, this is perhaps the best time to revisit our Human Resource Development laws as well as the related statutes such as the TESDA Law and DUALTECH Law. Are we ready to go notches higher than our present socio-economic classification as a newly-industrialized country with our present Human Resource Development laws and related statutes? Are our present laws regarding this matter sufficient or do we need more adequate laws to help us develop the skills of the Filipino people as a whole? We need to totally live up to its goals of developing human resource and further stimulate employment and help further expand our present economic growth and integrate that with sociological and political growth. As an economist by education and as a friend of the debaters, I am very much filled with excitement and expectation with this mornings debate. I am sure that they will all enlighten us about the Human Resource Development laws in the Philippines as well as inspire us as this is the first debate of the University of the East College of Law. I am Maris Angelica C. Ayuyao, your host for this morning and without further ado, let us begin this debate!

Debate Format This debate aims to aid students of law to polish their oratorical skills and develop their confidence, character, and personality to become effective public speakers and advocates of the law. This debate adapts a modified Oregon-Oxford format of debate. The debate is between two sides, the affirmative and negative, with four members each. Each debater from the affirmative side argues the necessity, beneficiality or practicability of the proposition. The debate team from the affirmative side will be composed of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the rebuttal speaker for the affirmative side and their reply speaker. The counterpart debaters on the negative side oppose these arguments. The debate team from the negative side will be composed of the leader of the opposition, the deputy leader of the opposition, the rebuttal speaker for the negative side and their reply speaker. The counterpart debaters on the negative side oppose these arguments. Each debater is given five minutes to deliver a constructive speech inclusive of the time for rebutting the arguments of the previous debater. Each debater is given two minutes to interpellate or cross-examine the opposing debater. As much as possible, only categorical questions may be asked. The chief judge rules in the event of ties, objectives or contestations. The judges total scores determine the best speaker, best debater and the winning team.