By Aljim Kudarat and Jasmine Joy Panes
Summer's wrath rages across the corners of Mindanao State University - General Santos (MSU-GSC), the host school of the 7th Mindanao State University Athletic Association (MSUSAA) Unity Games 2024. A soccer update from Bagwis, the official student publication of MSU-GSC, has sparked discussions about the alleged ‘climate advantage’, more accurately termed ‘weather advantage’, with MSUans being engaged in arguments about the pressing heat and its edge for the MSU-GSC delegates, the Generals. Whilst the 'online bardagulan’ adds spice to the MSUSAA 2024, it undermines the efforts and talents of the athletes, dispiriting the very essence of why MSU System conducts the Unity Games in the first place.
Undeniably, the Generals have been shaped by scorching heat and swirling dust, making them adaptive to the ever-changing weather of the university. Rabbani M. Marohamsalic, the Soccer Team Captain from MSU-Marawi, agreed that their 9-0 loss against the Generals in the Soccer Game 2 on June 1st was affected by the intense heat. When asked about his opinion regarding the weather advantage, Marohamsalic said, "For me, totoo 'yon sa part na bago lang kami dito. Pero, hindi ko masabi na advantage kung naka-adjust na kami.”
Additionally, Chad Sirdrick S. Bastatas of MSU-Maigo’s Volleyball team recounted that during their game against MSU-Maguindanao, despite being accustomed to their municipality’s high temperatures at noon, the unfavorable weather condition of GenSan prompted them to call for a time-out. He explained, “During sa first game vs Maguindanao, nag compressor [shirt] among team captain. Mao to, na-feel niya ang kainit that time around 9 AM. Wala naanad among player maong gipa-time out jud namo.”
Amidst the buzz, heat and rain are inherent in outdoor sports. Although Marohamsalic admitted that their players had difficulty adjusting from Marawi City’s higher elevation and cooler climate to GenSan’s hot and humid environment, he emphasized that it is not an excuse, as their sport is conducted on an open field. Moreover, the Sports Coordinator of MSU-Maigo, Fathma Sonnaya Minaga, pointed out that while the entire Philippines is currently suffering from the blazing heat, MSU-GSC is even hotter than their respective campuses. She remarked, “I think walang term na ‘climate advantage’ kasi lahat tayo nakaka-experience ng ganito. Para sa akin, hindi siya advantage sa GenSan. Siguro ‘yung mga fans lang may mga gano’n na concept.”
Furthermore, it is indeed true that the extreme weather conditions in GenSan extended to the exponential heat of arguments propelled by our irresponsible use of social media platforms. Seen on the recent post of Bagwis curating a 3–0 Soccer Game 5 result in favor of MSU-IIT over MSU-GenSan, the comments section was filled with “Ay nganong zero?”, “Sa init raman diay mo maayo. HAHAHAHA”, and the like. On what could have been the tail end of the infamous online bardagulan is still centered by the spotlight of clamor for clout-based toxicity that has been glorified for long; it turns out we are not doing anything to resolve it.
Regardless of whether the host of MSUSAA is GenSan or another campus, athletes must acclimate to varying weather conditions, be it too hot or cold. Hence, amid the fervent emotions evoked by the games, the online community must be reminded of their boundaries. While athletes acknowledge this reality, it's only netizens who instigate unnecessary uproars that do not contribute to the overall objective of the unity games. Muhammad Farhan Akil of MSU-GSC’s Soccer Team emphasized that, “As an athlete, anytime na man gud na. Walay init, walay ulan labi na sa soccer. Naka depende na na siya sa discipline sa every player kung kaya ba nila ma-adapt ang weather sa in-ani na situation.” Echoing this statement, Marohamsalic’s message to the online community is, “Ang masasabi ko nalang sa kanila is, punta nalang sila dito, i-experience yung na-experience namin.”
Indubitably, the ONE MSU campaign is just like building a castle in the air; our manifestation makes it hard to believe that it exists in the first place. The manifestation is, and will forever remain under its obscure materialization, because it is not the case that players are not able to win a game, but the fact that it is us, MSUans, who struggle to understand the real crux of the game. We should learn by now not to treat social media as platforms we can freely overutilize; our entitlement to freedom of speech became so excessive that we were resorting to blatantly abusing it. May we truly comprehend MSUSAA's goal of uniting us, as posited by Akil, “But after the games, after the event is ONE MSU ra gihapon, kampi-kampi gihapon ta ninyong tanan.”
For one, the cries of 'climate advantage' rally not on the players of the games themselves but are cultured by bystanders, those who find themselves in comfort in causing a pandemonium to break. It is just sad that, as students funded by the state, calling ourselves 'globally competitive students' is so easy, but standing upon its principle becomes very elusive. Hence, to be so-called 'Iskolars ng Bayan' is hard nowadays, unless we actualize the purpose of being so. And it is certainly up to us whether we culture professionalism or still continue to uphold the bardagulan we instilled across the MSU System, as it is highly evident that it already reaches MSUSAA, shattering its concrete goal of uniting us all.
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