After fourteen weeks, 22 schools have been whittled down to eight.

Via unanimous decision, De La Salle University beat Ateneo De Davao University and took the last quarterfinal spot of ANC's Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates.

The motion - that the Expanded Value Added Tax should be abolished - was defined by Ateneo de Davao on the Government side as decreasing the VAT from 12 percent to 10 percent, bringing it back to the the pre-2005 rate.

Ateneo said a tax cut can better stimulate the economy and will allow people to spend more. They argue that whatever revenues are lost from the two percent reduction would be compensated by the increase in consumption.

However, DLSU quickly rebutted that argument, saying that VAT reduction will not guarantee higher spending. They said it is more likely that people will wait for prices to go down further.

Moreover, DLSU maintained that the full 12 percent sales tax is needed to cope with today's global financial crisis. DLSU said the government will lose over P43 billion in revenues if the VAT was reduced.

They argue that this will greatly cripple government services and debt payment.

Ateneo countered that the VAT was being used as a scapegoat for the Bureau of Internal Revenue's poor tax effort. They said that instead of burdening the public with a higher sales tax, government should instead fix problems in tax collection.

The Ateneo team also argued that the tax cut would encourage growth over the long term.

DLSU said the government could not rely on income taxes for needed revenues due to tax evasion. They noted that the Ateneo team failed to propose concrete ways to solve this age-old problem.

The adjudicators concluded that the Ateneo team was not able to develop its arguments on growth spurred by tax cuts. They also pointed out that Ateneo did not capitalize on solid figures to strengthen their cause, unlike La Salle which crystallized the opportunity cost of tax cuts with the daunting figure of P43 B in foregone revenues.

DLSU ended the match by bagging all the awards with Opposition Whip Dino De Leon winning Texter's Choice and Adjudicator's Choice for Best Speaker.

Square Off Quarterfinals begins Wednesday, February 19, with reigning champion Ateneo de Manila University going against Mindanao State University - Marawi City.

Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates airs every Wednesdays, 8-9pm, with replays every Thursday 1pm, Saturday 1pm and Sunday 2am.