Ateneo, La Salle fans urged to wear pink ahead of rematch

The Ateneo-La Salle game on Tuesday night could become a mini pink revolution. UAAP Media Bureau (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

CARMONA--In an apparent call for support to presidential candidate Leni Robredo, the presidents of both Ateneo De Manila and La Salle made a plea to those coming to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Tuesday night to wear pink ahead of their UAAP men's basketball second-round meeting.

Ateneo president Bobby Yap and La Salle president Bernie Oca made a little tweak to an iconic line from the movie "Mean Girls" in a joint statement on Monday.

"On Tuesday, we wear pink," both priests said as posted on the universities' official pages.

Both Yap and Oca clarified in their statements that the fans are just "encouraged" to wear pink, that is, they can still wear the color of their choice whether it's blue, green, or another hue if they are not comfortable wearing pink.

Both Ateneo and La Salle, along with the studentries of the other UAAP member schools, have publicly announced their support for Robredo.

In fact, the fans of her alma mater, the University of the Philippines, made their support of her known as eyewitness accounts said they were chanting her name during halftime of the Fighting Maroons' game against the FEU Tamaraws.

Some FEU fans were also heard chanting her name.

This will be the first time an Ateneo-La Salle elimination round game will be played on a weekday after over a decade.

This will also be the first time that both teams will play in front of their fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic as their first-round meeting on April 2 won by the Blue Eagles was held behind closed doors.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno