| Bacolod City, Philippines | Wednesday, May 21, 2014 |
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for HS student- athletes filed
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MANILA – A bill removing the residency requirement for high school student-athletes transferring to other high school or college or university has been filed in the Senate. Senators Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar and Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed Senate Bill No. 2226 or an Act protecting the amateur nature of student-athletes in the Philippines by regulating the residency requirement and prohibiting the commercialization of student-athletes. ”No residency requirement shall be imposed on a high school student-athlete transferring to another high school or to a college or university,” Section 6 of the bill says. The proposed measure also requires the school athletic associations to impose only a maximum of one year residency to the student-athlete from one college or university to another. To prevent commercialization of the student-athletes, the schools are prohibited from offering a student-athlete “or his immediate family members” benefits or incentives beyond the limit to be set under the implementing rules and regulations. Aside from “reasonable living allowance,” the schools may give deserving student-athletes free tuition fee, board and lodging, and uniform and sports equipment, according to the bill. The proposed policy is not only applied to the school athletic associations but to almost 50 national sports associations (NSAs) in the country. ”The State shall recognize and uphold the rights of student-athletes to further hone their skills and abilities in their respective fields of amateur sports without neglecting their education and general well-being,” the bill explained. The controversial rule of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines requiring high school graduates transferring from one member school to another to go through a two-year residency has prompted the lawmakers to file the bill. The two-year residency requirement made University of the Philippines rookie swimmer Anna Dominique ‘Mikee’ Bartolome ineligible to compete in the last 76th UAAP season. Bartolome managed to compete on the strengthen of court injunction but some UAAP schools, including University of Santo Tomas where she finished high school, reportedly boycotted the events where Bartolome entered to swim.*PNA |
