Is change coming in UAAP?

The UAAP Board of Trustees is on vacation in Barcelona, courtesy of ABS-CBN which has a long-term contract to televise the games of the eight-school league established in 1938. Whether accepting the perk is prudent or not is a conscience call that solely rests on the minds of the Trustees. The money spent annually to keep the Trustees happy could surely go to something socially worthwhile like promoting sports for the less privileged. But that’s another story.

For too long, the Board has played god in deciding to ruin or bless an athlete’s career with the intention of protecting special interests. What’s disconcerting is the Board has assumed absolute authority to call the shots in the UAAP with no accountability to the presidents of the schools that the Trustees represent.

It took an act of Congress to kill the threeyear-old UAAP rule prohibiting a high school graduate from enrolling in a college or university of his choice without serving two years of residency for eligibility as an athlete if two UAAP institutions are involved. The UAAP Board was exposed for curtailing a basic human right. Note that the UAAP is made up of some of the country’s top schools with high academic standards and lofty principles. Yet how could the UAAP Board betray the moral values of the schools it represents by acting selfishly and in total disregard of a basic human right? Shame on the UAAP Board.

The case of Jerie (Koko) Pingoy comes to mind. Pingoy was a star FEU high school player who upon graduation, opted to enrol at Ateneo, a rival UAAP school. The Board decided that the only way Pingoy could play straight from high school to university would be to stay at FEU which has a senior program. A transfer to another UAAP school would mean a sit-out of two years. The reason was to protect a school’s “investment” in a high school player. But once a high school player graduates, his commitment to the institution ends and isn’t transferable to the next level. So why should he be forced to stay in a school against his choice if he wants to avoid a sit-out?

Worse, in conjunction with the two-year sit-out, a similar two-year sit-out was imposed on foreign student transferees, clearly to delay the entry of former Southwestern University player Ben Mbala as an eligible athlete for La Salle. The previous rule was a foreign student had to be in the country for two years, including one with the school he is to play for. The new rule on foreign athletes was made just to derail Mbala’s career.

With Sen. Pia Cayetano leading the charge, a new law was passed allowing high school graduates to become immediately eligible to play as seniors in any school of their choice. The UAAP Board had no option but to abide. The rule on foreign athletes, however, remained because the law only addressed Filipinos. Meanwhile, Pingoy’s basketball career has been severely compromised. He sat out two years, played briefly last season and is now on academic probation with the possibility of skipping another campaign. The UAAP Board can only be blamed for ruining Pingoy’s dreams. The once-promising star has now lost his luster.

With the K-to-12 application, the UAAP Board has lately agreed to waive the seven-year rule of senior eligibility from high school graduation. The existing rule is a player can only play the five years of senior eligibility within seven years from high school graduation. But with the K-to-12 system delaying the influx of fresh high school graduates by two years, the UAAP Board thought of the waiver. Additionally, the Board decided to reduce the age limit of senior athletes from 25 to 24. Now does that make sense? You waive the seven-year rule but reduce the age ceiling so where does that leave the school trying to recruit athletes?

The seven-year waiver has now given rise to the possibility of FEU stars Mac Belo and Russell Escoto, both 23, to play another year in the senior level. That’s because they’ve played only four years in the UAAP but they’re beyond the seven-year limit from high school graduation. With the seven-year waiver, they should now be able to play their last season of eligibility. But it’s not as clear-cut as that. Belo and Escoto fell within the previous rule where the seven-year limit was imposed so it wouldn’t be fair to accommodate them or any other player in a similar situation on a new rule still to be implemented. The new rule can’t be applied retroactively.

But if the UAAP Board’s trend of thinking is the standard, nobody will be surprised if all of a sudden, the new rule is applied to players who fell under the old rule. Anything is possible in the UAAP Board if a special interest is involved.

There is now talk that the age limit will be retained at 25 because of the furor that the reduction to 24 fuelled in social media. There is also talk that finally, the presidents of the UAAP schools will take a firm stand in removing absolute authority from the Board. The scuttlebutt is the presidents will now form the UAAP Board and act on all policy decisions. What is now the Board will be transformed into a Management Committee, accountable to the presidents. The Committee’s main function will be to make sure rules approved by the presidents are followed. In basketball, the commissioner will take full charge of deciding game-related issues, not the Committee. It appears likely that the previous season’s commissioner Rene (Rebo) Saguisag, Jr. will be retained.

With the presidents now involved, the Management Committee will probably lose its yearly perk of travel abroad. It’s not likely the presidents will accept the offer of a junket from the friendly TV coveror.

In light of the K-to-12 system and for new rules to be fair, there should be an absolute waiver of the seven-year rule from high school graduation applicable to players eligible for next season. The age limit of 25 for senior athletes should be retained and the two-year school residency rule for foreign athletes should be reduced to one year. Rules should be made to standardize not to jeopardize. It’s time the presidents of the UAAP schools put an end to the tyranny that has long been the trademark of the callous UAAP Board of Trustees. It’s time to uphold the UAAP’s integrity. It’s time to be fair to student athletes and give them the chance to shine without violating their human rights.