“FABILIOH. HALIKINU. Sis Boom Bah.”
These incomprehensible words have been chanted for generations by men and women who have witnessed the triumphs and struggles of those who have donned the blue and white since the days of Moro Lorenzo. Yet, despite this rich tradition inherited by today’s generation of Ateneans, the state of the school spirit has been in decline, a result of the changing times that the Ateneo’s own Blue Babble Battalion has struggled to adapt to.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t think the current student population has embraced the old cheers yet,” says Blue Babble Battalion Program Head Ralph Aligada. “It’s an unfortunate fact that the other cheers like ‘Fabilioh,’ ‘Halikinu’ and ‘Rhumba Yell’ are not as immersed in the current student population, unless you’re from the high school or the grade school. If you’re here for just college, you probably don’t know [the cheers].”
Changing times
The reasons behind this lack of awareness have not been a matter of mere apathy, but rather, a cumulative effect of the various changes made in the Ateneo. Aligada cites the discontinued practice of teaching the cheers during freshmen and sophomore Physical Education (PE) classes as one of the reasons behind this kind of culture.
Aligada’s predecessor, former Blue Babble Battalion Program Head Ivan Claudio, laments the situation: “All PE classes had to go through being taught of the cheers; that was part of the inculcation. It went hand in hand: If you’re saying school spirit was part of the Ateneo culture, then why shouldne, it be taught in Intact (Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Tradition), an introduction to Ateneo culture?”
Despite having fewer avenues for teaching these cheers, the Blue Babble Battalion looks forward to the annual Cheer Rally as a way to keep the school spirit alive. Still, Aligada expresses his disappointment with the crowd: “Students don’t really feel like going to cheer rallies. You feel it and you see it. Even when the event isn’t finished yet, when you say it’s from 4:30 to 6:00 PM, by 6 PM flat, they go.”
The frustration of the Blue Babble Battalion towards the apathy of Ateneans could be traced back to earlier decades. There was a time when Ateneo sports were, quite frankly, dead. “I come from a time when I was a cheerleader in the early to mid-here, and that was a time when we didn’t even [get the chance to] enter the Final Four. You’re talking to a guy who, in his old college life, the champion team was [the University of Santo Tomas]. Those were the dark ages,” shares Claudio, who has proudly been part of the Blue Babble Battalion tradition for 22 years.
The recent overhaul in the school’s sports program, however, caused an influx of championships unseen by the Ateneo since the school’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) days from the ‘20s to the early ‘70s. “The team had the new recruitment system and the team reemerged as a force. And so there was a renewed school spirit, so to speak,” says Claudio.
He adds that Ateneans must not get complacent when supporting the school: “We are also a victim of our own success. We got a little spoiled. Everyone expected [Ateneo] always to be winning.”
Fanning the fire
The present state of school spirit may seem disheartening, but Claudio remains unfazed. “Despite of the limitations given today, both physical, technical and whatever you may, it doesn’t mean that we’ll stop. To babble is literally ‘to go on.’”
Aligada mentions that the Blue Babble Battalion has recently been trying to come up with innovative ways to reach out to the student population. Social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube have been used over the years to reach out to students. He also says that he has been in contact with the various departments within the Loyola Schools (LS) to try and persuade them to start teaching the cheers to students again.
Although the appeal has yet to be actualized, Aligada does appreciate that the LS has taken some steps in keeping the school spirit alive: The “Blue Eagle, the King” anthem, now on its 75th anniversary, has noticeably been playing on campus in the morning.
It’s important that Ateneans know these cheers by heart since the Blue Babble Battalion’s process of which cheer to choose isn’t just a matter of preference. The decision-making of our cheering squad is a careful balance between emotions and timing.
“How the Babble approaches things now is very scientific. We cannot cheer for volleyball the way we cheer for basketball. We cannot cheer for football the way we cheer for volleyball and basketball,” Aligada shares. The crowd must be ready to cheer with all of their might on whatever beat the drums echo throughout the arena.
Importance of spirit
Although the cheers are mostly gibberish, they take on a more symbolic importance for the community. According to Miguel Lizada, an English Department instructor and an avid fan of Ateneo sports, “I think [cheering] is the collective voice of support and our investment in the game.”
In a way, cheering becomes the link between fans and the players. “I think players will tell you that the things that they hear, or do not hear, actually matter,” Lizada adds. “We can’t step in and steal the ball for them, but we can cheer them on and enable them to concentrate.”
Beyond the symbolism, however, Lizada acknowledges the practical value that school spirit has. The games, for him, have helped forge friendships with fellow alumni who are decades his senior. He fondly mentions one of his friends who graduated in the ‘70s as a part of the last Blue Babble Battalion batch, just when the Ateneo left the NCAA.
Unfortunately, the exact meanings of the cheers have been lost in history. “I think the publicized meaning is [that it is] gibberish,” says Claudio. “That’s about it. Then from there, every batch of Babble has its own interpretation.”
But, in a way, it is precisely the mystery of these chants wherein their true value lies. They become renditions made by the current generation, making the Ateneo culture and tradition that much richer. Aligada pointedly says, “Look, cheering is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be non-sense. I mean, La Salle has a Strawberry Shortcake cheer, which is nonsense. We have Fabilioh and Halikinu.”
[seperator style=”style1″] Ateneo Cheers[/seperator] [columns][two-columns]
Artillery Yell
Blue Babble Battalion (BBB): O! Ready on the Left!
BBB: Ready on the right!
BBB: Target:
Crowd: <Name of opponent>!
BBB: Range:
Crowd: <Name of opponent>!
BBB: Ready, Aim, Fire!
All: Boom Chika Boom, Boom Chika Boom, Boom Chika Boom Chika Boom Chika Boom!
All: Boom Chika Boom! Rah Rah Rah! Boom Chika Boom! Sis Boom Bah (3x, getting softer)
All: Ooooo Boom! ‘Teneo! ‘Teneo! ‘Teneo!
Locomotive Yell
All:
A! Rah, rah, rah
T! Rah, rah, rah
E! Rah, N! Rah, E Rah, rah rah
Ooooooooooooo!
*Repeat, getting faster
Blue Eagle, the King
Fly High!
Blue Eagle fly
And carry our cry
Across the sky!
Cast your shadow below,
Swoop down on the foe,
Then sweep up the fields away!
Fly high!
Over the trees
Make known through the breeze
Our victories!
Spread wide each wing
For you are the King
Blue Eagle, the King!
For the Eagle’s the King of them all
And his blue feathers never will fall!
For the Blue and the White
And the Eagle in flight
Ateneo will fight
Today!
Fly high
Over the trees
Make known through the breeze
Our victories!
Spread wide each wing
For you are the King
Blue Eagle, the King!
