By Susan Claire Agbayani
In December last year, the Varsity Pep Squad (or UP Pep) of the University of the Philippines paid homage to homegrown band Eraserheads for the Cheerdance Competition (CDC) Season 86 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The theme of their routine was “AlapaUp” (how apt!).
They executed “a high-level performance:” flips, jumps, and pyramids to excerpts from the Ehead’s “Alkohol,” “Overdrive,” “Huling El Bimbo,” “Huwag Kang Matakot,” “Pare Ko,” “Tindahan ni Aling Nena,” “Magasin,” “Harana” and ended with, what else, but “Alapaap?” They did routines with Black-Eyed Peas as theme the year prior. In 2010, the squad “executed flawless routines that incorporated Filipino traditions, such as the Masskara and Panagbenga festivals…before 20,950 spectators” according to a story published in the Philippine Star (“UP Pep Squad thrills, awes”).
The squad’s Head Coach Fae Pascua said that this Eheads-themed routine represents “the journey, freedom from struggles, and challenges faced by the team.” She added that by placing fifth, the team “finally (broke) a streak of being at the bottom three since 2017.”
The team held championships in eight non-consecutive years: for three consecutive years from 1999 to 2001; for two consecutive years in 2007 and 2008; and after not being the champs in 2009, they regained the championship again for another three consecutive years: 2010, 2011 and 2012. And then came the “dry” years. However, UP holds the “unprecedented” 20 consecutive podium finishes from 1995 to 2015. (There was no competition in 1997)
Through the years, UP Pep – or at least, several of its members – have represented the country in the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea in 2002; The Cheerleading Asia International Open Championships in Tokyo, Japan in 2008, 2009 and 2013; and the Cheerleading World Championships in Hong Kong in 2011, in Bangkok, Thailand in 2013, in Tokyo, Japan in 2015, and Berlin, Germany in 2016.
UP Pep in March last year “bagged” the championship title for the All-Girl College Cheer Division at the 16th National Cheerleading Championship (NCC) in Pasig City, at its first appearance at the NCC after a 16-year absence. In March this year, UP Pep competed in the 17th season of the NCC at PhilSports Arena, where the girls “clinched the national championship in the Open All-Girl Group Stunts L6 Premier Division with a score of 342.5 points.” On Day 2, the team finished fifth in the Open Coed Cheer L5 Elite Division, with a score of 217.5 points.
It has been a decade since UP Pep reached the top at the UAAP CDC. Prior to last year, it had consistently finished sixth in the last five editions. It had hoped to “turn its fortunes around” in Season 86, and aspired to “crack the top three for the first time since 2015,” and “to deliver a performance to remember” according to a story published in Rappler in 2023. And wasn’t that performance with the Eheads as a soundtrack truly memorable?
The squad was formed in 1994. It started as a group of five UP basketball fans known as the “Hecklers.” It eventually became the official cheerleading and cheerdance team of UP.
The UP Pep Squad has two halves: the cheerleaders and the drummers. They perform at the halftime of basketball games of the UP Fighting maroons, at different university events and functions, and at the CDC of UAAP.
Apart from Pascua, the team’s coaches include Herbert Gerard Villafranca, Drummers’ Coach, who graduated from UP Diliman in 2015 with a baccalaureate degree in Computer Science; and a master’s degree, also in Computer Science, in 2022.
The coaches were appointed two years ago, when the UP Pep Squad sought to return to the top of the UAAP CDC. Both of them are UP alumni and were previous members of the squad.
Back then, Pascua promised a new era “for UP Pep Squad, for the Fighting Maroons, and for the UP community,” according to an article written by Micah Formoso for The Philippine Collegian (“With a New Coaching Team, UP Pep Squad Eyes a Podium Comeback”). Pascua was quoted as having said, “We want to build a new legacy moving forward…: new generation, new everything.”
The coaches bring something unique to the table: their unique strengths and weaknesses. They endeavored “to conduct training that are safe spaces (and) a coaching strategy that would bring out the best of the team.” Part of this strategy, of course was “communication,” and “operating on trust, not fear.” As well as “maximizing the team’s energy in strength and conditioning, gymnastics and dance.” Their concerns included the physical as well as mental health and emotional wellbeing of the team’s members.
Villafranca is ably assisted by Assistant Coach Seldane Donne Tagao, who is also an alumna of UP Pep, and was also a former Head Drummer. She graduated from UP with a baccalaureate degree in Biology in 2019. The team’s Strength and Conditioning Coach is Josiah Cabanag.
Pascua says that while her coaching style is uniquely Filipino, she incorporates cheers from different countries where she trained in cheerleading: Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. She was part of the UAAP Season 77 cheerdance performance.
“I joined the team in Season 74,” Villafranca told Carillonthrough a message on social media. “I was a Head Drummer during the season.” [Note: there are two head drummers]. “I was an active alumnus, and I continued to help after I graduated after Season 77. I rejoined the team as Senior Resident in Season 82 while taking my masters,” he added.
“I joined as the Lead Coach for Drummers, and Assistant Team manager in 2022, right as Season 85 started. I primarily coach the drummers,” he further said.
Training
The squad relentlessly trains for three to four hours on weekday nights at the UP Diliman Football Field. The drummers train at the Baseball Garden of the College of Human Kinetics for three hours daily on weekdays, Villafranca said.
“We are honored to witness and compete against teams from all over the country. We are excited for the future of Philippine cheer and we hope it continues to grow with every Filipino cheerleader pushing the sport even further,” Pasco said in April.
With full confidence, Pascua said, “The team is getting ready to bloom come UAAP Season 87, where the University of the Philippines (is) set to host.”
“UP Pep has come a long way from where we started when we revamped the program in late 2022,” said Villafranca. “This is not the work of any one person, but the combined efforts of the current and previous members of the coaching staff, the community that supports us, our alumni, and, of course, the student-athletes themselves. We are immensely grateful for the continued support and encouragement we receive, and we remain hopeful for the future of the UP Pep Squad,” he concluded.