CHED joins call for assurance of student-athletes’ health

FILE: Commission on Higher Education in UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City (Photo by patrickroque01/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has joined the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Games and Amusements Board, and Department of Health in pleading to officials of collegiate teams to keep the student-athletes safe health-wise amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

“Safety of our students is the topmost concern.” CHED chairman Prospero De Vera said on Wednesday.

De Vera’s statement came after the revelation of alleged bubbles involving two collegiate teams.

The case of University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) men’s basketball team was the most celebrated one as it was unearthed right after CJ Cansino confirmed that he was removed from the squad.

Afterward, reports surfaced that the National University’s (NU) women’s volleyball team also underwent a training bubble inside its Manila and later Calamba campuses.

Since the start of the community quarantines, De Vera said he has been advising the college students to stay at home.

However, the bubble reports have put college sports into the limelight anew for the wrong reasons.

That is why PSC national training director Marc Velasco is glad CHED reiterated its call for the college students’ safety amid the pandemic especially the student-athletes.

“The PSC will always push to uphold the issuances regarding sports and physical activity and we are happy that CHED is a steady partner when it comes to sports in universities and colleges,” said Velasco.

Meanwhile, in a meeting earlier Wednesday, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) executive director Rebo Saguisag and Season 83 president Nonong Calano said that UST is set to finish its probe regarding its basketball squad’s alleged bubble which took place in Coach Aldin Ayo’s hometown of Capuy, Sorsogon.

“The fact-finding committee is wrapping up their investigation and will; be forwarding the result to the rector’s office tomorrow,” Saguisag said.

The committee will then relay the report to the UAAP in their board meeting on Friday.

The league is also waiting for a word from NU regarding its volleyball bubble.

The joint administrative group for sports is set to convene anew on Tuesday next week and is expecting a member of UST’s fact-finding committee and a representative from NU to join them to air what really went down in the reported bubbles.

Amateur teams are not yet allowed to practice amid the pandemic according to the joint administrative order on sports training, placing the Growling Tigers and the Lady Bulldogs in danger of getting sanctioned for violation of quarantine protocols.