Pia Cayetano urges UAAP to rethink new residency proposal

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Pia Cayetano urged the UAAP not to meddle with the existing one-year residency rule, as she believes it hampers the personal development of student-athletes.

Cayetano, the author of the Student-Athletes Protection Act which set the bar at one year, says any plan to increase the number of redshirted years is adverse to existing legislation.

“I reminded the UAAP Board and all concerned that we do have a law. That is number one, to protect the student-athlete,” Cayetano told reporters during a visit to the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) at the Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, June 18.

“So what is the interest of a student-athlete? To go to school and to play the sport they love. To improve their competitiveness, but to stay in school,” she added.

According to a previous report by Spin.ph, a proposal to limit potential transferees’ maximum playing years from four to three is gaining traction from members of the UAAP’s policy-making body.

The proposal is due to the increasing number of high-profile transfers, which has been a lingering problem over the past decade or so.

Under the current law, there is no current provision allowing or disallowing the removal of an eligibility year, although it is stated in Section 4 of the law that no school can impose other forms of punishment.

“That’s the law, let’s protect the one-year period. Why would they remove [a year] to a budding athlete? Why? I do not understand,” questioned the solon.

“Yes, I know that schools need to protect themselves. But what is the primary goal? The welfare, the well-being of the student-athletes,” she continued. “So I implore the decision makers about this before they make any drastic action about this that will affect the playing life of these athletes.”

In case the proposal pushes through, the senator is open to conducting another inquiry in aid of legislation – which gave way to the passage of the aforementioned law.

“I respect and implore the parties involved come together and decide what’s the best interest of the student-athlete,” Cayetano continued.

“And if they need policies to prevent certain things that they want to happen, I am aware of the poaching issues. Address that! But don’t penalize the athlete.” – Rappler.com