by Catherine De Leon and Nicole Rigayen
BAGUIO CITY – To show support and pay tribute to all student-athletes, the University of the Philippines Baguio University Student Council (UPB USC) conducted the Tagis Lakas 2020 with the theme, “We Dare, We Struggle, We Fight as One” on February 7 at the UPB Parking Lot.
Student-athletes sat in the front rows to give them recognition as the main visitors of the night, according to Mikee Salud, the USC Sports Committee head and a member of the Women’s Volleyball Team.
The Tagis Lakas pageant is one of the highlights of the event, inviting candidates from different organizations in the university to “show their creativity, wit and knowledge about the issues the athletes and the people face,” as stated in the Facebook post of the UPB USC.
(From left to right) Nathan Peralta of CADUA, Kyle Laurel of UPPL Pusoy, Nathan De La Cruz of UP Namnama Baguio, Bryan Dominic Agor of UPB Bahaghari, and Kyle Santos of MESOC.
Salud explained that the pageant is an “add-on” to pay tribute to the student-athletes, who the program is for. It also has the intention to break the stereotypes of typical entertaining pageants which do not provide contributions to current societal issues.
She also emphasized that the contestants joining the competition should have an advocacy that will voice out the struggles of the student-athletes.
“Ang pagsali sa Tagis Lakas ay dapat may advocacy para sa mga atleta. Itong event na ito ay para sa ating mga iskolar-atleta,” Salud said.
(In joining Tagis Lakas, one should have an advocacy for the athletes. This event is for our scholar-athletes.)
Among five candidates, Bryan Dominic Agor, a freshman from History bloc and the representative of UP Baguio Bahaghari, won the title Tagis Lakas 2020 Superstar.
Tagis Lakas 2020 Superstar Bryan Dominic Agor together with UP Baguio Bahaghari.
During the final ‘Question and Answer’ portion, Agor emphasized how important the voices of this nation’s scholars are in helping both student-athletes and the nation’s athletes.
“Bilang mga iskolar ng bayan, kailangan nating gamitin ’yung boses natin… Kailangan sinasabi natin sa buong bayan ang karapatan ng ating mga estudyante-atleta at ng mga atleta ng bayan. Dahil kapag pinaglaban natin ’yon, mas lalo nating maipagmamalaki na tayo ay Pilipino, iisa sa puso, iisa sa gawa at iisa sa layunin.”
(As scholars of this nation, we need to use our voices… We need to tell the whole nation about the rights of our student-athletes and our nation’s athletes. Because if we fight for it, we can be more proud that we are Filipinos, one in heart, one in action and one in goal.)
In an interview, Agor further said that the school administration should prioritize this nation’s athletes and now, as a Tagis Lakas Superstar, he plans to raise this concern to the school administration because the athletes carry the university’s name.
“Hindi nila [school administration] nailalabas na priority ‘yung mga atleta ng bayan,” Agor stated. “Kaya bilang Tagis Lakas Superstar, ay ’yon ang kailangan nating iparating sa admin, na kailangan din nilang iprayoridad ang mga atleta ng bayan natin dahil dala nila ay pangalan ng eskwelahan natin, hindi lang pangalan nila, kundi pangalan ng buong unibersidad,” he added.
(The school administration does not show the nation’s athletes as a priority. That is why as Tagis Lakas Superstar, we should let the admin know that they should prioritize the student athletes because they carry the school’s name, not just their names, but the whole university’s name.)
Candidates of the Tagis Lakas 2020 recognized the athletes’ problems and difficulties in the university and nationwide by incorporating advocacies in their costumes, performances and answers in the ‘Question and Answer’ portion.
Nathan Peralta of Campus Alliance in Dedicated and Unified Action (CADUA) and UP Namnama's Nathan de la Cruz won the first and second place, respectively.
De La Cruz, who is also a member of the UPB Men’s Volleyball Team, said in an interview that the title he won at the pageant is not only for bragging rights but also to serve as a bridge and a weapon to voice out the concerns and problems faced by the student-athletes.
De La Cruz, who is aware of the situation of scholar-athletes through online news and posts, expressed dismay on the lack of support they [national athletes] have been receiving from the government.
“It breaks my heart na panoorin ang ating mga national athletes na nagdurusa dahil sa kakulangan ng suporta na binibigay ng administration ngayon lalo na sa pang-pinansyal na suporta.” He said and added that these struggles also happen in UPB.
(It breaks my heart to see our national athletes suffering because of the lack of support given by the administration, especially financial support.)
UPB student-athletes have been receiving PHP 30.00 allowance per person each day of training and PHP 150.00 per person each game but these are still not enough to support their needs and sacrifices in training and other preparations.
De La Cruz cited this as the reason why athletes become weak, causing bad performances in their games and losing their audiences’ interests.
“Nakukulangan ng support ang mga athletes pagdating sa laro nila kasi daw mahina ang mga players ng UPB. Kaya nawawalan ng interest ang karamihan na manonood,” De La Cruz said.
(There is not enough support for the athletes during their games because it seems like the players of UPB are weak. That is why most of the viewers lose interest.)
Tagis Lakas, a shorter term for “Tagisan ng Lakas,” is a traditional event in UPB that gives recognition to scholar-athletes of the university and the struggles they experience including the lack of support from the school administration and fellow students, as well as student-athlete stereotyping.
Edited by Antoinette Mandap
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