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Filipinos, for some reason, perhaps because of the Spanish influence, are so intense about everything. Such intensity is displayed in all sorts of things like basketball games, but most especially in politics. Another year has gone by, and elections are coming pretty close. It was just last year when Ateneo and La Salle faced each other for the UAAP championship, and now here we go again for another exciting face-off.

The rivalry between these two schools is just unbelievable, and even the fans from the other schools also get carried away by the intensity of these basketball games. In these games, big boys act like school kids as they trade hoots and catcalls inside the basketball court.

I guess this intense rivalry started way back in 1939 when both schools were still with the NCAA. At the time, both the senior and junior teams from each school found themselves pitted against each other for the championship. La Salle won, spawning the fierce competition that has thrived to this very day.

During the UAAP season, the clash between these two schools never fails to energize basketball fans. Every time these two teams are matched up, the level of interest and excitement hits the roof, so to speak. Araneta Coliseum will once again become a battleground with a sea of green and blue colors flooding each side, much like the boundaries drawn every time foes get ready for battle.

The fact is, there has been so much anticipation that tickets for today’s game have reportedly been sold out. Some even camped out overnight just to be the first in line at the ticket booths, which started selling last Monday. I was told by Araneta Coliseum owner Nene Araneta that patron tickets are sold for as much as P7,000 by scalpers, when in fact the Araneta management hardly makes any money out of it since they sell the tickets for P350, and it’s mostly alumni who fill the Big Dome. The NBI has already nabbed several suspected scalpers and will be doubling efforts to prevent scalpers from taking advantage of fans willing to cough up an exorbitant amount just to watch the game tonight.

The kind of intense rivalry that we see in every Ateneo-La Salle game can be very fierce but, at least, it’s just a game. In politics, the consequences can be more serious and damaging. We’re still about a year and a half away from elections but the intense rivalry is now starting to fill the air with Manny Villar under the gun because of the controversial P200 million budget “insertion.”

Ping Lacson is virtually accusing the Senate president of unethical conduct, insinuating that it was Villar who profited from the C-5 road project in Las Piñas. Sources also said more “ammunition” is being lined up against the embattled Senate president.

It also looks like this early, alliances are getting apparent with Ping and Manny being flanked by their allies. The entire Senate is practically engaged in a free-for-all with everyone trading barbs and insults against each other. You have Joker Arroyo shouting at Ping; Jamby Madrigal getting irked at Jinggoy who gave Alan Peter Cayetano the floor instead of her, prompting her to walk out in a huff; Miriam is proposing the arrest of the minority block members who, for one reason or another, didn’t show up at the Wednesday session. More fireworks are expected tomorrow especially now that Ping had scoffed at the “ceasefire” proposed by Kiko Pangilinan.

Even Brother Mike Velarde who is not even a declared candidate is also being dragged into the fray. Likewise with Mar’s “First Lady” Korina Sanchez, who is reportedly being accused by the Villar camp as the one responsible for breaking the story on the C-5 double allocation. Naturally, Mar came to the defense of the feisty broadcast journalist.

In basketball, everyone in the team has a role to play. But how the game develops will mainly depend on the ability of the coach to harness the talent of each member and lead his team to victory. Having gone to both schools, I consider myself lucky since whichever team wins, I always come out a winner. While the competition can be so fierce, at the end of the day, players from both teams can just shake hands, knowing they all did their best to win.

But it’s a different story altogether in politics, where the stakes are much higher and the consequences more damaging. When the political rivalry becomes so intense, it can actually destroy reputations. It can destroy relationships, friendships and even families. In fact, it can even destroy the moral fabric of society, the very soul of the country.

How one wishes that politics can become more of a sport like basketball, where everybody can go home and return to normal when the game is finally over. But in this country, politics never stops, so we might as well relax and watch it from the sidelines just like any basketball game.