University of the Philippines Board of Regents member Frederick “Spocky” Farolan explained that he was being ironic and sarcastic in a now-deleted post where he joked that three players of the Ateneo Blue Eagles would be absent due to injury in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 81 Finals between Ateneo and the UP Fighting Maroons on Wednesday.
Farolan said that his previous post where he asked UP fans to pick who the three injured Ateneo players would be and suggested that UP’s fraternities form a “composite strike team” targeting the players was actually made to poke fun of the “barbaric, machismo, stupid and ignorant” incidence of violence in the university.
“I posted something which might be construed as advocating violence and frat violence. To be clear, as I mentioned in a comment there, violence, especially frat-related ones are barbaric, machismo, stupid and ignorant. There was sarcasm in that comment which may not have been immediately and easily perceived by some,” Farolan wrote. He added that he deleted the post so that no one would further misunderstand his statement.
Farolan despite his explanation and deletion of the original post received criticism from both UP and Ateneo fans, many of whom interpreted his statements as threats against the Ateneo team.
Regardless if Spocky Farolan was being sarcastic with his statement or not, that was still out of line and unbecoming of him as a regent. With all the recent issues involving FRV, it's no surprise people will take the threat seriously. Nakakahiya talaga. 'Yan ang walang class.
— Isko (@iskolarspeaks) December 2, 2018
Deleted post from UP Board of Regents member Mr. Frederick "Spocky" Farolan. Joke man or hindi, mismong estudyante ng UP hindi na safe ang pakiramdam sa UP Campus tapos may ganyang post pa? Maraming salamat sa paninindigan, Madam Nina Alentajan-Santiago. Saludo po ako sa iyo!!! pic.twitter.com/Ygtto1Sswp
— Titan (@_CEREALKILL3R) December 2, 2018
Is Spocky Farolan a UP official? Is this an attempt to injure or harm Ateneo players? He must resign. @UAAPSportsTV @abscbnsports pic.twitter.com/44fyGKie0h
— Moses Albiento (@mosesalbiento) December 2, 2018
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, a UP alumnus who also previously served on its Board of Regents, in a post suggested that Farolan resign after the criticism he drew.
Violence too close to home?
Ateneo’s 88-79 victory over UP in game 1 of their finals series saw tensions rising between fans of the two Katipunan Avenue-based schools.
Both schools, regarded among the country’s top institutions of higher education, recently experienced incidents of violence involving their students.
Ateneo is currently investigating reports about a student who was mauled by at least three other Ateneo students at a nearby bar.
UP on the one hand was the scene of a series of violence confrontations between members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi and Alpha Phi Beta fraternities in November 2018.
UP President Danilo Concepcion in a statement on Monday disowned Farolan’s post and said that the matter will be brought up with the university’s Board of Regents.
“While this regent has deleted the post and has apologized for its contents, claiming that they were made in jest, I wish to make it clear the University of the Philippines takes these statements seriously and dissociates itself from the post and from the actuations of this regent, matters which I intend to take up with the Board of Regents,” Concepcion said.
Farolan previously drew flak for lashing out at those who complained about the delayed release of results of the UP College Admission Test in April 2018.
