HOMESTRETCH: JD Cagulangan and the heart of the UP Fighting Maroons

MANILA, Philippines – When the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons won the UAAP championship in 2021’s season 84, people got to hear the story of “Nowhere to Go but UP” – the UP community’s herculean effort that started in 2014 to transform the cellar-dwelling squad to become one of the collegiate league’s more formidable teams.

But the story did not end there, and ten years later, HOMESTRETCH continues to tell the story of how 2024’s batch of Maroons continue to keep the torch lit, and the team “UP there.”

In 2021, then-rookie JD Cagulangan helped usher the team out of a three-decade drought. Since then, UP has constantly appeared in the finals every season, before finally clinching this year’s UAAP season 87 championship when it defeated the De La Salle University Green Archers.

In this special episode of HOMESTRETCH, show host and avid UP supporter Pató Gregorio sits down with UP icon JD Cagulangan as they both look back on his journey with the Fighting Maroons. In his words, ‘Kailangan mo sumuntok sa buhay dito, kailangan mong tibayan ang loob mo.’

Gregorio also sits down with UP’s one-and-done Quentin Millora-Brown and rookie sensation Jacob Bayla.

He also catches up with UP veteran Harold Alarcon and the Fighting Maroons’ coach, Goldwin Monteverde during the traditional bonfire with the UP community to celebrate the victory.

HOMESTRETCH aims to tell the stories of people that inspire us with their struggles and triumphs, and the places that help define our spirit as a nation.

Co-presented by Rappler and Duckworld, HOMESTRETCH is hosted by sportsman and tourism advocate Pató Gregorio.

Watch on Sunday, December 22, at 8 pm on Rappler’s YouTube and Facebook accounts. – Rappler.com