FEU Lady Tamaraws’ Lycha Ebon, Ash Cañete, Niks Medina, Shiela Kiseo, Jean Asis and Chen Tagaod. FEU Lady Tamaraws fan page photo
MANILA, Philippines — Far Eastern University said on Friday that it is staying apolitical after some of its women’s volleyball players were seen wearing shirts endorsing the tandem of Bongbong Marcos and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in photos posted on a Facebook page bearing the name of the FEU Lady Tamaraws.
Rarely do FEU athletes voice out their political stances. But on Friday, photos of Lycha Ebon, Ash Cañete, Niks Medina, Shiela Kiseo, Jean Asis and Chen Tagaod supporting UniTeam’s presidential aspirant Marcos and his running mate Duterte were posted on the Lady Tamaraws Facebook page, which was later clarified to be a fan-made page.
FEU said the post “do not represent the University.”
“FEU has been traditionally apolitical. FEU students and employees can endorse any candidates running for elections in their own capacity,” the school wrote in a statement.
Ironically, FEU Central Student Organization is endorsing presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo, even calling for students to wear pink during the UAAP Season 84 games.
The fan page first captioned the photos with “We stand. We the FEU Lady Tamaraws Ctto (credits to the owner): FEU management” then later changed it to “Maski magkakaiba tayo ng pananaw at may ilan ay may iba ang kulay ay ok lang po yan. In the end tayo ay iisang Pilipino. Salamat sa suporta.”
(Even if we have different views and there are some endorsing a different color, that’s okay. In the end, we’re Filipinos. Thank you for the support.)
The daughter of Lady Tamaraws head coach George Pascua, Jennifer, took to social media to clarify that her father had nothing to do with the viral post as it is not an official stand of the team.
“I think Papa, being a very diplomatic person that he is, will also respect his players’ preferences. Our family stands at the other side of the fence opposite to these kids,” she wrote. “He was not aware that it was posted by a fan page that gave the impression as if the whole team prefers the same. I think the athletes’ preference can still be expressed but with better messaging.”
Former Lady Tamaraws captain Rem Palma took to Twitter, asking to report the page, which was interpreted by some as an official page of the team, and hoping the incident will serve as a lesson to be more responsible on social media.
I hope the incident serves as a lesson to everybody. Always keep in mind that whatever we share online should be double checked before posting. I hope whoever is behind this fuss learned his lesson after causing so much commotion.
There will always be consequences for every act.— R e m (@_RemPalma) April 29, 2022
“I hope the incident serves as a lesson to everybody. Always keep in mind that whatever we share online should be double checked before posting. I hope whoever is behind this fuss learned his lesson after causing so much commotion. There will always be consequences for every act,” the Petro Gazz Angel tweeted.