UAAP residency rule stays until House okays bill

MANILA, Philippines — UAAP athletes covered by the two-year residency rule yesterday remained unsure if they can suit up this season as the “Student-Athletes Protection Act” has yet to be approved in the House of Representatives.

The “Student-Athletes Protection Act,” or Senate Bill No. 2226, which includes the scrapping of the controversial two-year residency rule, was approved in the Senate last week. It was authored by Sen. Pia Cayetano.

But the House also needs to concur, before sessions adjourn this Friday, for the bill to move forward before Season 77 of the country’s premier collegiate league kicks off on July 12.

If the House fails to tackle the bill this week, it can be taken up again when sessions resume on July 28.

Affected players Cayetano had hoped to push for the passage of the bill before the season’s start so that affected players like Ateneo basketball player Jerie Pingoy and University of the Philippines swimmer Mikee Bartolome can suit up this year.

The bill is set for hearing under Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House committee on higher and technical education, according to Cayetano’s staff Tuesday.

Pingoy, the former Far Eastern University juniors MVP who transferred to Ateneo, was forced to sit out last season after the league set a new rule requiring a UAAP high school player who transfers to another member-school for college to serve a two-year residency.

But Bartolome, who competed for University of Santo Tomas in high school, defied the rule last season by obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop the league from implementing the rule.

Cayetano, a former University of the Philippines volleyball team captain, had said that the spirit of the bill is to give student-athletes the “opportunity to study and play in the school of their choice.”