(I actually saw another blogger do this so I thought I'd relay my own personal message)

Dear UP Pep Squad, 

First of all, I would like to thank you. In behalf of all the gender roles in the country and maybe even the world, thank you for creating the "Flag of Equality" and expressing through dance what a lot of people all over the world have been fighting for.

A lot of people don't agree with the concept because they don't understand how hard it is to let others accept the concept of Equality. And you did what others didn't even think about. You made people aware. You made people understand. When citizenship, race, skin color, or gender is no longer an issue in whatever aspect, then we have equality. In my years of cheerleading in college, I never thought it was possible to express that point in a cheerdance routine. Then again, that's what UP is all about right? Doing the impossible. Or better yet, proving that there is no such thing as the impossible.


Like I mentioned, I was a cheerleader - a back spotter, to be specific - and I know how hard it is to practice. I know how much pain and sweat is felt after every single run and you do it for months, only to perform ONCE for seven to eight minutes in front of thousands of people. When the University of the Philippines was announced as the 1st Runner-up today, a lot of faces fell in sadness... But you know what? I think UP won something even bigger than the trophy or the title. In the UAAP CDC 2014, University of the Philippines will be REMEMBERED as the university that united every single participating school in the UAAP in the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

Therefore, second of all, I would like to congratulate you UP Pep Squad. I believe that as of today, you are immortalized. You made history.

Was I there? No, I wasn't. I saw narrations. I saw pictures. I saw conversations over social media. I saw rumors being spread about a flag being torn apart. I would give anything for the Doctor to come to me now and take me to that time and place. I would give anything to touch and pass that flag and share the excitement with the people in that Coliseum. That would be something magical to experience.




My sister, Nadine, was a UP Pep Squad drummer since last year. She graduated last April. I didn't really appreciate what she did at first, since it severely affected her studies. Until she invited me to one of her practices. That was the first time I watched her play with her teammates... and I remembered. It was just like dancing for me before, only she expressed her love for her school using the drum.

For years, I watched the UAAP CDC in the comfort of my home. Last year, I promised her that I would watch her final competition live. So I filed a leave of absence at work and rode a bus to Manila the day before the competition. I didn't regret it. I finally saw what I couldn't see in my television screen. The bleacher cheer competition between teams during the commercial breaks on TV. The excitement of learning the team cheer right before the squad starts dancing.

Finally, I would like to tell you to keep going... to keep training... there are a lot of people that believe in you. We just hope that you won't give up on yourselves. I'm excited (with everyone else, I'm sure) about what you're going to perform for us next year.

Sincerely yours,
Kri :)