Being a historic first, Accountancy (ACC) Griffins and Humanities and Letters (HUMLET) Wolves bagged the overall championship award for this year’s UFest, creating dual champions with 36 points and back-to-back crowns for the ACC Griffins. 

Despite being a smaller cluster compared to others, HUMLET Cluster Representative Matthew Payumo emphasized that their cluster could stand shoulder to shoulder with other big clusters and even surpass them.

“Humanities and Letters, for context, is a small cluster. So the very fact na nag champion kami is a testimony that even if we had all this limitation, it is very much possible to us to be winners…We are not always the underdogs, we can also be winners.”

Payumo expressed that the HUMLET cluster grappled with budget constraints and was making ends meet with the small population it had. 

“It’s very hard to pull people. Because aside sa maliit lang ang HUMLET, hindi rin sila interested sometimes na mag join or kaya naman busy sila or kaya naman meron na silang event sa other organizations… ang budget din, honestly after this we still have to do liquidation report pa we have to pay up some debt sa finance pa kay we had to really find a way to get money.”

Amid the suspension of Ufest after the series of earthquakes, he indicated that the two weeks’ respite gave the team a much-needed break after the grueling back-to-back  Palaro and Ufest preparations.

“When Ufest was suspended, we were actually shocked. We had 2 weeks of rest since we really value everyone’s rest because given that Palaro and Ufest, sunod sunod siya. It was really…mentally and physically, and psychologically draining for us.”

On the side of the other champion, ACC Griffins Cluster Representative Filfred Kaizzer Calma affirmed that they had set their sights on winning the overall Ufest championship ever since the beginning. 

“This year, it was to champion and power every single griffin. From the very beginning, it was really our goal. It was really the very essence of ASEC. To empower the griffins.”

Calma revealed that their biggest challenge was primarily the lack of time for preparation, resulting in pressure to perform in every practice opportunity they had.

“There was really a short time of preparation and limited space for errors. But I believe through coordination, communication, and every single Griffin participated be empowered to do their part and be part [of] this such wonderful cluster really be an essence and it really showed through palaro, ufest, and beyond.”

With the lowest cumulative scores determining the victors, the Computer Science (CS) Chameleons and the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers tied for first runner-up spot with 37 points, while the School of Nursing Panthers placed 2nd runner-up with 41 points. 

Duyog 2025: The Ateneo Ufest Closing Ceremony wrapped up at 4F Martin Hall on December 11.