Ateneo Makes A Political Statement at Halftime
Safe to say that the Ateneo De Manila University community isn’t too pleased with the House of Representatives’ decision to allocate an embarrassing P1k budget to the Commission of Human Rights for 2018.
Clad in black, members of the Blue Babble Battalion, the cheer squad of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, made a statement performance during the halftime of the latter's UAAP game against the UP Fighting Maroons.
Instead of the usual cheer routine, the men revealed signs with the words, “Stop the EJKS, uphold human rights.” One of them tore a placard that had the symbolic amount “P1,000” written on it.
This isn’t the first time Ateneo used its sports presence to send a message. Last year, fans of ADMU and rival school De La Salle University also wore dark in protest of extrajudicial killings and the burial of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The Blue Eagles not only won the hearts of many with the gesture, but also the match, 92-71.
This story originally appeared on FHM.com.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
