Ahead of the UAAP Season 86 tournament later this year, the University of Santo Tomas received a significant boost to its men’s and juniors’ basketball programs.
On Tuesday afternoon, stock life insurance company Cocolife and Dumper Partylist formalized their partnership with UST for the school’s Growling Tigers and Tiger Cubs teams.
UST IPEA head Fr. Rodel V. Cansancio, O.P., stated that the support from Cocolife and Dumper is a significant boost for the school as they aim to bounce back in the upcoming season.
“There are lots of basketball programs [to support], but they chose UST,” Cansancio said during the signing ceremony held at the Cocolife office in Makati City.
“We want to thank Cocolife and Dumper Partylist for the trust and confidence that they showed us in bringing this partnership to reality,” he added.
Cocolife’s Senior Vice President Joseph Ronquillo mentioned that the signed memorandum of agreement was initially valid for a year but is open for extension as needed.
“Both parties are very much open to an extension (of support) after Season 86,” said Ronquillo, whose son Lanze is part of the Tiger Cubs squad.
“We give our full support to the development of UST, not just for juniors but also for seniors,” he added.
The Growling Tigers, who already received support from San Miguel Corporation’s Petron, are determined to recover from a 1-13 campaign in UAAP Season 85.
Meanwhile, the Tiger Cubs fell short of a podium finish in UAAP Season 85 junior basketball, settling for fourth place.
“We can assure you, especially the Thomasian community, that we will bring our basketball program to new heights,” Cansancio said. “With the corporate sponsorship, alam natin na malaki at malayo ang mapupuntahan ng teams natin.”
