While the De La Salle Green Archers and the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons were battling it out on the hardcourt of the SMART Araneta Coliseum days ago, a tension-filled situation ensued among the audience during the UAAP Men’s Basketball Game 3.
It was reported that a spectator was escorted by a bouncer out of the DLSU side due to alleged “rowdy” behavior. The said spectator was a supporter of the UP Fighting Maroons.
Fullcourtfresh.com photographer Kenneth Panlilio happened to be near the commotion and was able to take photos of what happened. He sought the person involved who turned out to be female and a media person. She had a valid UAAP media ID and had been covering the UP Fighting Maroons for some time.
Via Facebook Messenger we asked for her side of the story. She replied quickly and provided a statement. Her only request was that she would not be named in this article.
“I always take my UAAP basketball videos from the UP court by the ringside, whether it be UP’s side or the opposing Team’s side,” she began. “At Araneta I always stand on that same spot right beside the right side of the ring facing the court and I have never encountered any issues with any spectators from the opposing Teams of any of the UAAP schools,” she reiterated.
But last Sunday, December 15, 2024, was different for her. “An elderly lady questioned me if I was from Media and TOLD [emphasis hers] me that I should stay at the seats reserved for Media on the left side of the ring facing the Court.”
To this media person’s knowledge, those seats were reserved for photographers who are given black bibs. Since she did not fall under that category and the area was full, she remained in her place.
An elderly man (whom the UP media person assumed was the lady’s husband) then approached her and told her to sit down. “Since there were no other vacant seats aside from the ones they just vacated, I sat in one of those empty seats,” she said.
This was when things got heated. “The elderly lady then sat beside me and proceeded to pull at my Media ID and so I turned away and tried to get away from her but she also pulled at my body while tugging at my ID. As a result my ID got crumpled and my clothing sustained a hole.
“While she was pulling at me and my ID, a bouncer approached. The bouncer asked me to move to the left side of the ring, and one of the photographers wearing a black bib offered his seat. I was about to take the seat, however, the bouncer then asked me to move back to the UP side as the commotion was worsening as the other spectators on the DLSU side were getting involved. I agreed to move back to the UP side where I continued to take videos until the end of the game.”
After the game where UP emerged as the champion, she reported the incident to the Media Management. “I was told that the spectators who caused the ruckus in the first place and who had no right to lay their hands on me should have been removed by Security, instead of Security asking me to go back to the UP side. They advised me to file a report with them to be forwarded to the Coliseum’s Management and to the UAAP.”
As of the time of the interview, she had yet to file the report because she also covered UP’s celebratory activities, and had also gotten sick. “But I intend to file (the report),” she told FCF.
In spite of the event, she had this to say. “To the elderly people who fought me, I will pray for you, and thank you, because you made UP’s win even sweeter.”
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