Student-Athletes Protection Bill approved
High school athletes across the country can now breathe easy after the Senate and the House of Representatives approved a bicameral version of the Student-Athletes Protection Bill authored by Senator Pia Cayetano, which includes a provision that prohibits school leagues from imposing a residency period for high school students who are keen on transferring to a different college.
The development was announced by Cayetano, herself a former varsity athlete, yesterday in a statement released on her website.
“With the approval by the Senate and the House of the bicameral version of the Student-Athletes Protection Bill, the unjust practice of residency rules for high school students going to a different college will be a thing of the past,” Cayetano said.
“In past years, school sports associations have imposed residency rules on student-athletes that unfairly restricted their choice of school and their growth as athletes.
We recognize the important role of school athletic associations in developing the skills, character and potential of our youth through competitive sports. I also believe in their right to self-regulation.
However, when interest groups within these associations refuse to act and address the concerns of student-athletes, then the government needs to step in to regulate their actions to ensure that the rights of the vulnerable are protected. In this case, it is the student-athletes whom we must protect from being commodified and subjected to unethical practices of some schools and organizations.”
The bill came about, incidentally, because of Cebuano basketball star Jerie Marlon Pingoy, whose move from Far Eastern University to Ateneo prompted the UAAP to institute a two-year residency period for high school athletes transferring from one school to another, unless they secured a release from their former school.
The UAAP ruling also affected several high-profile athletes, which included swimmer Anna Bartolome and now-Ateneo guard Hubert Cani.
The bill also aimed to regulate the benefits that schools may give student-athletes. Schools and leagues found in violation of the law will be fined from P100,000 to P1 million.