12 Sep For Everyone, UAAP: FEU Opens Season 89 With a ‘Super Unkaboga-Bowl’
The UAAP is back, and FEU made sure Season 89 opened with a statement.
With FEU serving as this season’s host, the league officially opened its 89th season on Saturday, September 12, at the Mall of Asia Arena with a kickoff show that deliberately stepped away from the traditional sports-opening formula.
The theme was “For Everyone, UAAP,” but the opening was unmistakably FEU.
Dubbed the “Super Unkaboga-Bowl,” the celebration put entertainment front and center, combining the pageantry of a collegiate sports opening with the scale and energy of a major halftime show. It was a showcase of music, school pride, Filipino pop culture, and, above all, the personalities and communities that give the UAAP its identity.
The program began with a moment of silence for members of the UAAP family who have passed away.
FEU President Juan Miguel Montinola then delivered the opening remarks, welcoming the student-athletes who will once again wear the colors and expectations of their respective universities into another season.
The “Brave Callout” followed, putting each member school in the spotlight through a roll call of athletes and notable personalities. It was a reminder that the UAAP has never been just about the games themselves. The schools, their communities, and the people who stand behind their teams are all part of the spectacle.
Amid all the spectacle, the ceremony also made room for the traditions that have long marked the start of a UAAP season.
FEU Lady Tamaraw football ace Nikk Dhrea Duran led the student-athletes in the Oath of Sportsmanship as the league formally welcomed another season of competition.
FEU athletics standout Edna Magtubo then lit the symbolic UAAP cauldron at the Mall of Asia Arena, officially setting the Season 89 flame ablaze.
The torch was then passed from school to school alongside their respective top athletes. It was a simple but meaningful reminder of what the UAAP has always been about: tradition carried forward by one generation of student-athletes after another.
Then the lights, music, and show took over.
FEU alumnus Gloc-9 kicked off the entertainment portion with the “Super Unkaboga-Bowl” performance, setting the stage for the evening’s main act.
Then came Vice Ganda. The “unkabogable” queen took over the Mall of Asia Arena, commanding the stage as the night’s biggest star. The crowd got an added surprise when Darren Espanto, Kyle Echarri, Baby Dolls, and BINI members Maloi and Mikha joined Vice onstage.
But the performance was only part of Vice’s contribution to the evening.
Speaking to the UAAP community afterward, Vice then delivered a message that went beyond the celebration: stay true to yourself, keep fighting, show up, and continue chasing the win no matter what stands in your way.
It was a message that fit the occasion.
Because the opening of Season 89 was never meant to be only about the athletes who will compete for championships. The UAAP exists because of a much larger community—the coaches and staff who prepare the teams, the families and friends who support them, the students who fill the stands, the alumni who remain invested in their schools, and the fans who keep coming back every season.
That is the meaning behind “For Everyone, UAAP.”
FEU used its turn as host to put its own personality on the opening, delivering a celebration that was distinctly Filipino, distinctly entertaining, and distinctly FEU.
But once the lights go down and the competitions begin, the stage belongs to all eight member schools and to the student-athletes who will write the next chapter of UAAP history.
Season 89 is officially open.