Debaters from San Beda College trounced the team from Lyceum of the Philippines to earn a spot in the quarterfinals of ANC's Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates.

Defending the motion that minimum wage should be scrapped to create more jobs, SBC said scrapping the minimum wage is a great way to incentivize companies to hire more people.

The team said tax breaks for companies and having collective bargaining - mediated by the government and overseen by labor union groups - should determine new labor contracts.

Lyceum, however, said collective bargaining would be too messy and that employees would be susceptible to abuse and manipulation by companies that are more concerned with increasing their production.

The team said abolishing minimum wage would compromise the purchasing power of the people. They said lack of demand for local products and not the minimum wage law is causing the recession.

It said scrapping the minimum wage would only disrupt the flow of money and exacerbate the situation.

San Beda countered by saying that the main issue was how government can balance the interests of all stakeholders. For companies, scrapping the minimum wage would mean they do not have to lay off workers and would help the country's economy as well. For workers, this means they at least have a job at the end of the day even if they are earning less.

The adjudicaters declared that this was the closest Square Off match they had ever judged. But ultimately, two of the three said they gave San Beda the nod because the boys' arguments were more relevant to what is going on today.

Catch Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates every Wednesday, 8 p.m.-9 p.m., with replays every Thursday 1 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. and Sunday 2 a.m.