With All That's Said And Done...

In my previous post, I re-posted a blog entry from a fellow Lasallian about how he ardently condemned the "Ateneo Bonfire Incident" - something which I'm sure almost all of my readers are too familiar with by now and that which has caused a looong trail of enraged Lasallians voicing out their indignant protests- along with my personal sentiments on the matter as well. I still stand by what I said that it was a disgusting thing to do - the least which I'd expect from any member of the Ateneo community - and was done in such downright poor taste. A lot of not-so-pleasant words have been exchanged from both Green and Blue fences since then, and for a while it seemed as if the verbal war would never come to a halt. Then last October 2, 2008 Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J., president of ADMU, released an official letter of apology to Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC and to the Lasallian community. See image below for the entirety of the letter.

As it turned out, the genius behind the idea of painting the bamboo planks with the names of the DSLU Green Archers team and then burning it into a bonfire is an ADMU alumni, Mr. Jesse Paredes. Here's what the guy had to say about what he had just done:

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Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, SJ

President

Ateneo de Manila University

Dear Fr. Nebres,

I write this letter for two reasons. The first one is to own up to producing the materials with the names of the Green Archers and placing them prominently in the woodpile before the bonfire for all to see.

Secondly, I sincerely apologize to you for the queasy situation you are in as a result of the backlash it created.

While the nature of this letter is a personal apology to you, please feel free to extend it to parties you may deem fit to receive it.

Sincerely,

Jesse Paredes

HS’54, AB’58

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With all that's been said and done, I think it's high time to step on the brakes and call it a day. What's done is done, and apologies have been made. The best thing to do is to keep in mind the lessons learned out of this whole incident, and move on. (But I must admit, this thing is something that's gonna be far from forgotten as far as most Lasallians are concerned.)

Whew, what a season UAAP Season 71 has been - the passion for collegiate basketball, school loyalties, and a face-off between the most celebrated rivalry in the history of UAAP. Until the next season, mates! :)

ANIMO LA SALLE!!!