EJ Obiena revels in ‘full circle moment’ in UAAP opening with UST — ‘It was a simple yes’

EJ Obiena embraced the opportunity to give back to his former school UST as he was one of four protagonists of a torch relay which marked the opening of UAAP Season 88 at the España campus of the season hosts on Friday.

Obiena, who has yet to finish his schooling in UST, competed in the UAAP early on in his career before he moved his base abroad to pursue more success in his career.

[RELATED: UST kicks off Season 88 with festive opening ceremonies in España campus]

In an interview with media on Friday, Obiena spoke about the impact of participating in the opening ceremony, where he was also joined by PVL superstar Sisi Rondina, former UAAP basketball champion Jervy Cruz, and SEA Games gold medalist Sydney Sy.

“I mean, it's such a huge moment in my life, I would say, because I started in UAAP and now, you know, starting in this torch, it's definitely that full circle moment.” Obiena said. 

“With that, you know, I'm really thankful and blessed and yeah, just happy.”

A no brainer

It is not unknown to people that Obiena does have a busy schedule, with the bemedalled pole vaulter also organizing his own tournament — the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge — over the weekend in Makati.

But when the opportunity presented itself, Obiena said that they worked to get schedules to match.

When he was approached by the prospect, there wasn’t any hesitation for Obiena, especially as he was delighted to have the opportunity to give back to his former school.

“Actually no, [I didn’t expect this] but when we reached out, it was a simple yes.” he said.

“It's just a matter of how to make it with the schedule as, you know, competition tomorrow for the national event. I'm competing at the 21st, so it's just a matter of like trying to make sure that it works within the schedule.” he continued.

Apart from the torch relay, the opening ceremonies sizzled with festivities highlighted by the parade of athletes, a drone show, and the Hope Concert which featured UST grown talents like Sarah Geronimo, and Kean Cipriano, and local band Lola Amour.

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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.

Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.