Despite the heated “Battle of Katipunan” game in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, the schools stood united under a common cause.
During the halftime performances by the University of the Philippines Pep Squad and the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion, both squads ended their routines with calls to end corruption in the country.
The Philippine government is currently undergoing investigations into anomalies in floor control projects.
The UP Pep Squad delivered their usual routines, including “Hey UP,” “Let’s Go UP,” and “Unibersidad ng Pilipinas.”
To close their performance, they altered the words of “Unibersidad ng Pilipinas” to chant, “Ikulong na ‘yan, mga kurakot,” a slogan popularized during the mass demonstrations against corruption on September 21, 2025.
Meanwhile, the Blue Babble Battalion performed “Fight, Fight – Blue and White,” “Blue Eagle Spelling,” and “Go Ateneo, One Big Fight.”
They then removed jackets emblazoned with the words “KURAKOT IKULONG” and chanted the same phrase to the tune of “Go Ateneo, One Big Fight.”
During both performances, both the communities of UP and Ateneo chanted along.
This is not the first time the league has seen politics intersect with the games.
In 2009, both Ateneo and La Salle wore yellow to honor the passing of former President Cory Aquino.
In 2016, the two schools wore black to express solidarity with victims of human rights violations and with all others fighting to uphold human rights in the country.
Also in 2016, the Blue Babble Battalion donned black shirts with “NOT A HERO” written on them during their UAAP Season 79 Final Four game against Far Eastern University to protest the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
UAAP schools also observed a “Pink Week” during UAAP Season 84.
In the end, the Fighting Maroons defeated the Blue Eagles, 83-69.
