By Shayne Elizabeth T. Flores

As Far Eastern University’s (FEU) week-long 98th Foundation Anniversary celebration concludes, Tamaraws expressed varying sentiments about their One Concierto Piyu (OCP) 2026 experience, which was marked by numerous delays, last February 13.

The OCP was initially set to commence at 3 p.m., but was pushed back due to technical difficulties according to the FEU Central Student Organization (FEUCSO).

After being officially opened by the FEU Drummers and FEU Cheerleaders’ performances at around 4 p.m., a downtime occurred amid the program due to lack of supply of power. As a result, the concert officially resumed at 6 p.m.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, first-year psychology student Kenneth Santos noted that while his first OCP experience was marked by delays and difficulties, it was worth the wait. 

“Since first time kong mag-Concierto, at first, ‘yun nga maraming delays, maraming difficulties. Sobrang unexpected. We know naman na ‘di naman nila ginusto ‘yun, though. Pero itong mga sumunod na oras, sobrang worth it ‘yung wait, kasi grabe, sobrang saya (Since it’s my first time to attend Concierto, at first, there were so many delays and difficulties. It was so unexpected. Though, we also know that they did not intend that to happen. But these next hours made the wait worth it as it’s enjoyable now),” he said.

Meanwhile, second-year biology student Jamilah Layesa stated in a separate interview that she could not help but compare this year’s OCP to the previous year’s, stating that the latter was more ‘exciting’ than the former.

Layesa also added that the program delays this year made their experience inconvenient as they still had to wait despite deliberately arriving late.

“Late na kami pumunta para ‘di na kami makipagsiksikan, pero ayun, since nagka-delay, medyo hassle nga siya kasi kailangan pa rin namin mag-antay (We went to school late so we could avoid being crowded, however the delays still made our experience a hassle because we had to wait),” she shared.

Similarly, Psychology Batch 2025 alumna Fiona Cruz observed that the hype from students was less felt this year compared to the previous years, owing to SAYAWIT’s separate schedule and the implemented downtime.

“Dahil binukod ‘yung araw ng SAYAWIT… in the morning is medyo kalmado, tahimik pa. Dati, morning pa lang, hyped na ‘yung mga tao… Parang nabi-build up na ‘yung hype pero ngayon pa lang kasi, medyo matagal din ‘yung downtime kanina, so medyo nainip din ‘yung mga tao; napansin namin (Because SAYAWIT was scheduled on a different day, it was quite calm in the morning. Back then, people were already hyped up in the morning. But today, the hype is just starting to build up because of the downtime earlier, causing people to grow impatient as we have observed),” Cruz remarked in an interview.

Last year, SAYAWIT was supposedly scheduled in the morning session before OCP 2025. However, due to various complications, only the Battle of the Dance proceeded during the OCP’s pre-show in the afternoon, while the Battle of the Bands was postponed to a later date.

On the other hand, in a separate interview, fourth-year business administration student Shanti Mabansag expressed mixed reactions in several aspects of the event.

According to her, while the OCP artist lineup is promising this year, the poor audio system in some performances was disappointing.

“In a way, medyo disappointing lang ‘yung audio. May mga sabog ganoon and everything. Pero okay naman, lalo na nako-cover up siya ng galing ng mga artists na na-invite (The audio was quite disappointing in a way. There were crackling sounds and other issues. But it’s okay because it was compensated by the invited artists’ skills),” Mabansag pointed out.

The business administration senior also added that the crowd control is better this year since the concert gates were mandated to officially close once the University’s full capacity was reached in contrast to the previous OCP.

“Mas organized siya, kasi ‘yung mga nauna namin [na OCP], ang hirap talagang kumilos, sobrang sikip… sobrang daming tao… I think naka-help siya kasi dito [sa FEU Plaza], may mga space pa. Dati walang mga spaces dito tapos sobrang hirap kumilos (It’s more organized than our previous concert experiences, when it was so hard to move because it was too crowded. I think the crowd quota this year helped because it left more space here in the Freedom Park. Back then, you could barely move here because of lack of space),” Mabansag highlighted.

Despite the issues, several Tamaraws remained satisfied with the event, expressing their understanding of the ‘inevitability’ of the program delays.

“My experience in Concierto is nice… Masaya rin po kasi maraming tao… kasi nakakita ako ng maraming artists. Hindi naman talaga natin maiiwasan na may mga [technical difficulties] tayo na mararanasan (My Concierto experience is nice. It is also fun because there is a lot of people and I get to see various artists. It is really inevitable to experience technical difficulties),” political science sophomore Jubren Glor Sarsuza stated in an interview.

Similar sentiments were shared by internal auditing freshman Daniel Harvey Acusar, suggesting a more thorough equipment dry run next time.

“It’s understandable kasi with everything that has to be perfect, siyempre, maraming kailangan i-configure (of course a lot of things need to be configured) and stuff. It’s common practice naman to dry run sa mga equipment and stuff so siguro, let’s triple check everything next time,” he raised.

As such, students underlined that FEUCSO should learn from their past lapses concerning OCP and ensure that these will be improved next year.

“For the future events ng Concierto… learn from the [past Conciertos]… katulad nung sa mga technical na delays. Sana mas ma-improve pa ‘yun. Pati ‘yung pag-handle ng mga nanonood sana mas organized siya (For the future OCP events, they should learn from their previous OCP implementations such as the technical delays. I hope those could be improved further. I also hope for a more organized crowd management next time),” Layesa emphasized.

Per the FEU Safety and Security Office, approximately 11,592 Tamaraws were present at the concert, which is more than the 9,000 attendees last year.

Among the guest artist lineup who graced the FEU Grandstand were Drag Race Philippines Season 3 Runner-Up Khianna with a K, soloist Kiyo, OPM hitmaker Kitchie Nadal, alternative rock band Mayonnaise, and indie-pop band Healy After Dark. 

Additionally, Tamaraw homegrown artists FEU Theater Guild, One FEU Music and Records, ‘SAYAWIT 2026: Battle of Dance’ Champion Institute of Health Science and Nursing Ortus District Dance Alliance, and Drag Battle Superstar Letisha Jasmine, along with ‘Drag Battle Season 2: LoveLabanan’ queens, also performed.

- With reports from Ishia Eleanor F. Marquez

(Photo by Prince Espela/FEU Advocate)