Survey king and Atenean Dr. Mahar Mangahas theorized that this big business that is the Ateneo-La Salle basketball rivalry and revelry was perhaps concocted by the American Jesuit priests and the La Salle brothers during the American colonial era before World War II to divert their students in their all-male schools from sexual misadventures. However, I believe that earlier generations of Ateneans and La Sallites had wanted to mirror the famed and snobbish Harvard-Yale boat race rivalry, a historic tradition that pioneered American intercollegiate athletics since the first race in 1878 on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
This year’s final game proved to be a windfall for television stations who cashed in on advertising, for ticket scalpers, T-shirt sellers and merienda vendors among many others.
Even Ateneo basketball team patron Manny Pangilinan of PLDT had a difficult time finding tickets for his many VIP friends (I used to be able to ask tickets from him!). His staff told me their boss was even willing to pay the scalpers’ price of P1,700 each for tickets originally priced at P100, but even the black market ran out of supply. Macau Restaurant and Tony Roma entrepreneur George Pua recalled that he first made his own big money as a La Salle student, when he produced and sold 50 dozen La Salle T-shirts during the then NCAA games after gifting samples for all the cheerleaders to wear.
Unfortunately for the Ateneo, despite the high standard of its education and being the school that produced great heroes such as Dr. Jose Rizal, Claro M. Recto and Ninoy Aquino, La Salle in the 20th century seemed to have stamped its amazing success in big business with the likes of San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr., the Concepcion brothers, Enrique Zobel (who donated the real estate for La Salle Zobel in Ayala Alabang), Alfonso Yuchengco (who recently donated the Don Enrique Yuchengco Hall in honor of his late father to his alma mater), John Gokongwei Jr. (who donated a building to La Salle in honor of his late mother Juanita Gokongwei before his largesse to the Ateneo), the Ortigases (who donated the real estate for La Salle Greenhills) and many others.
Why this phenomenon of La Salle business success, if indeed it is true? Donor of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center to the Ateneo and billionaire tycoon Cito Lorenzo half-jokingly said, "Probably the reason why the La Sallites are better in business is because they have less scruples than us Ateneans." SM Group executive and former La Salle graduate school of business Dean Lydia Echauz replied, "Perhaps it is the influence of the many entrepreneurial Chinese students that made La Sallites more successful in business." La Salle graduate and head of the 7,000-student Emilio Aguinaldo College Jose Paulo "Chichoy" Campos replied, "Not only is La Salle education definitely more effective in producing good businessmen, just look at the way the La Salle brothers managed the remarkable success and rapid expansion of all the La Salle schools. I think there are much fewer La Salle brothers than the Jesuit priests of the Ateneo, but they seem to be more entrepreneurial, though the Jesuits are also good educators."
Ateneo graduate and Confederation of Garment Exporters of the Philippines (CONGEP) president George T. Siy said, "I disagree that Ateneans are less business savvy than La Sallites. I think it is not so much the education, but the history of the Ateneo as traditionally the school of the landed elite in the past who were less entrepreneurial, while many La Sallites are from the entrepreneurial business clans." Asia Trust Bank president and Chamber of Thrift Banks past president Dionisio Ong asserts that La Sallites are definitely better in business because of the school’s focus on accounting, business management, engineering and other trades, while Ateneo focuses on liberal arts, philosophy and others that seek to mold eloquent "Men for Others."
If Pangilinan indeed can win continued control of PLDT, it would then become another Ateneo-La Salle rivalry on a grand scale. Atenean Pangilinan of PLDT against aggressive rival La Sallite Gokongwei of Digitel, the latter of which is deadset on launching its much-awaited cellular phone service by the end of the year. Watching by the sidelines and marshaling its resources for the great Telecom War is giant competitor Globe Telecom, controlled by the Hispanic Zobel-Ayala clan, which on October 7 surprisingly came out with full-page newspaper ads saluting the Ateneo Blue Eagles and their basketball triumph. Is this the lull before the great cutthroat competition in telecom, which will expand the frontiers and hopefully elevate the services of telecom firms? Another telecom player quietly still trying to boost its competitiveness is Bayantel, with its big boss Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III seen cheering on the same side as PLDT president Pangilinan during the exciting championship brawl.
Although La Sallites may have many big entrepreneurial business leaders – even the top economic leaders are La Sallites like Finance Secretary Lito Camacho and Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura – Malacañang Palace has been occupied by three Ateneans continuously since 1992, when Atenean Fidel Ramos won over La Sallite billionaire Danding Cojuangco in the presidential election. Then President Fidel Ramos told me he earned his master’s degree in business administration from the Ateneo in 1980, becoming the first ever Philippine President with an MBA degree. Other Ateneans were high school drop-out ex-President Joseph Estrada and now President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who earned her master’s degree in economics at the Ateneo, where she also taught economics. First Gentleman Mike Tuason Arroyo is also an Atenean, a lawyer and real estate businessman. An Atenean executive pointed out that Atenean Jesus Tambunting is chairman of Planters Development Bank, Atenean Justo Aboitiz Ortiz is chairman of Union Bank, Antonio "Tony Boy" Cojuangco III is chairman of Bank of Commerce, Simon Roces Paterno is president of the Development Bank of the Philippines and many others.
A business executive said, "We will not concede that La Sallites are always better in business. Like in basketball before October 5, we are the admitted underdogs, but wait for us to make a big upset in the coming years. Never underestimate an Atenean."