UP TO CONTINUE CHANTS VS CORRUPTION AT UAAP GAMES

MANILA, Philippines — Expect chants protesting against corruption to continue on in basketball and football games played by University of the Philippines.

The UP Varsity Pep Drummers will continue with protest chants against corrupt individuals in their games, head coach Herbie Villafranca said.

During the Fighting Maroons’ game with the Ateneo Blue Eagles last week, the pep squad chanted “Ikulong na yan, mga kurakot!” during their halftime performance. The audience also chanted.

The Ateneo Blue Battle Battalion also wore shirts reading “Kurakot Ikulong”.

In a statement, Villafranca said that the VPD first chanted the call with the UP community during the “Black Friday” protests at the UP Diliman on September 12, in the wake of issues of government corruption.

“That was nearly a month ago, and since then, we've heard the chant echo through mobilizations, concerts, and mass gatherings. People are angry, and they have every right to be. More importantly, people must not forget,” he said in a statement.

“Given how warm the reception was (during UP-Ateneo), we intend to continue doing the chant regularly at basketball and football games to remind the public that no one has been jailed yet. We also hope to expand this effort to other sports in the future,” he added.

Villafrance also encouraged other universities “to join us in chanting and pushing for the corrupt to be jailed and justice to be delivered.”

Allegations of corruption have risen the past few months for alleged ghost and anomalous flood projects across the Philippines.

The chants are expected to be heard as the Maroons will take on the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Sunday, 4:30 p.m., at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

2025-10-12T04:31:21Z