Members of UAAP 4-peat champion Ateneo to auction off shoes, jerseys for typhoon victims

The UAAP men's basketball season may be over for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, but the job isn't finished yet. The four-peat UAAP men's basketball champions, this time, are out to raise funds for the victims of Typhoons Pedring (Nesat) and Quiel (Nalgae). In a video released by the Ateneo University Communication and PR Office, the Blue Eagles' starting five called on their supporters to help out in the university's ongoing relief efforts. Guards Emman Monfort and Kiefer Ravena, forwards Kirk Long and Nico Salva, and big man Greg Slaughter will be auctioning off their jerseys and shoes to raise funds for relief operations during the Ateneo community's bonfire celebration on Saturday.

In the video, Monfort, Ravena, Long, Salva and Slaughter—the Ateneo stars who guided the team to a fourth straight UAAP men's basketball title opposite FEU early this month—asked for donations for the "Ateneo Dream Team," a group that facilitates relief operations in the event of natural calamities. "We ask you to give in cash or in kind to help out partner communities affected by the typhoons," said Long, who along with Monfort, one of the veterans of the squad. Both Long and Monfort played their final UAAP year in the recently-concluded 74th basketball season. Donations may be delivered to the university's assigned offices or to a booth that will be set-up during the bonfire. Three of the players in the video received top awards from the UAAP this season with Ravena being named the season's Rookie of the Year and then joined Slaughter in the Mythical Team. Salva earned the Finals Most Valuable Player award. Monfort and Ravena will be auctioning of the shoes they used during the finals while Salva is auctioning off his pair of shoes that he used the entire season. Slaughter will be auctioning off the jersey he used during the second game of the finals while Long donated one of his jerseys. 90 deaths, P12 billion in damage On Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the death toll from the two typhoons hit 90, as the estimated property damage hit the P12 billion mark. Pedring knocked out power lines causing outages in a wide area of Luzon when it made landfall last week over Aurora and Isabela provinces. Metro Manila also experienced strong winds, knocking out power in some areas and causing extensive damage to infrastructure. Even Game 2 of the UAAP finals between Ateneo and FEU was postponed because of the typhoon. Quiel, meanwhile, ravaged Northern Luzon only five days later, taking the same path Pedring made. For more information, visit www.ateneo.edu/pedring or contact the Ateneo DReaM Team at 929-9724 or email them at ateneodreamteam@lists.ateneo.edu. — JVP, GMA News