Sen. Pia Cayetano pushes for reforms, looks to crack down on ‘scholarships with benefits’

Senator Pia Cayetano said she will not hesitate to crack down on "scholarships with benefits" during the first Senate public hearing on her Senate Bill No. 2166, known as the Magna Carta of Student-Athletes.

In what promised to be the first of several meetings on the issue, Cayetano and Senator Cynthia Villar invited representatives from different school-based athletic leagues to tackle policies on scholarships, residency, and the right to represent the country in international competitions.

But the most heated discussions came from the idea of the creeping "commercialization" of student-athletes, wherein the athletes or their parents are offered incentives beyond "reasonable allowances" for tuition, food, transportation, and lodging. These incentives, officially unacknowledged by the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), were recognized among the factors that led to the implementation of the the controversial two-year residency rule for transfers between the league's member schools.

"Why is there piracy? Because another school will offer another amount, which is an amount that is not being disclosed. If we're just talking about scholarships or a spot on the team, then we wouldn't be having this problem. This problem persists partly because parents allow their children to be treated like a commercial commodity," said Cayetano.

"The minute we start dealing with benefits beyond that, then we change the nature of the amateur student-athlete to a commercial student-athlete. At the rate it's going, many of these leagues might as well be a semi-commercial league. If that's what you want, you might as well call it that. Call it what it is, deal with it," she said.

Cayetano affirmed the right of students, among others enshrined in her bill, to freely choose where to study or play at the university level, as stated in Section 5.1a.

"If you look at the problems that surface [regarding pirating of athletes between schools], it's quite clear to me that we forget that they're not athletes first. It's quite clear that education is not the first thing that's going on," said Cayetano. "I won't go into this now because that will open a can of worms about information you might not know or might not want to share."

Allegations of piracy

Dr. Esther Albano-Garcia, President of the University of the East, said that there has been some interest on their level to introduce reforms into their league.

"The university presidents have taken a lot of interest in this problem," she said, referencing a presidents-only meeting held during the latter half of the season. "We appeal to you to please give us time to implement these reforms in a year."

However, Albano-Garcia defended the passing of the two-year residency rule because of the piracy that has been going on.

"Our volleyball boys are 10-peat champions this year. And so far we have four of our MVPs in boys volleyball going to only one school," she said. "And this year, our MVP is again being offered to leave UE. The student tells us he doesn't want to go but he tells us it's his parents who are being offered.

"We passed the two-year residency rule because we know this to be the problem. What is the statistical probability that four volleyball players would transfer without anything else going on?" she asked.

"We also support the scrapping of the residency rule as long as the benefits are also in our interest. We have had 20 high school athletes transfer to different schools and all of them who were released, except for two because of evidence of piracy," said Mark Molina, the UAAP board representative of FEU.

In response, Cayetano asked, "How many of them will be offered scholarships with benefits? But what is certain that none of them will be able move to the school of their choice because of your policy. I prefer not to intervene, but what will I do? I've already witnessed the abuse this has caused."

"You have to talk amongst yourselves in the UAAP, that you have a piracy problem," added Cayetano in response to Molina's statement.

Establishing a baseline

Also invited were representatives from various school athletic leagues, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA), Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA), Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI), and National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU). 

Cayetano consulted the resource persons on common university practices, and most leagues responded that one-year residency policies applied only between university transfers, and none for high school-to-university transfers. Most perks covered also basic tuition waivers or subsidies, plus allowances for food, lodging and transportation.

Other issues

The senator also brought up the issue of granting equal opportunities and resources for women student-athletes beyond mere divisions for them to compete.

"I'm referring to scholarship slots that should be equally available. Tell me if you disagree with me, but I understand most of the funding goes to men's basketball," she said.

Other concerns raised in the discussions included matters of representation in international competition.

Given this, Cayetano challenged the leagues to come up with standard definitions of reasonable benefits for student-athletes. She maintained she respected the schools' prerogatives of what benefits to extend, but warned that reasonable extents of these benefits should be established.

She said she remains hopeful that the leagues would reconsider their standing policies on their own, but added she would not hesitate to use legislation to protect the interests of students.

"I hope you voluntarily change any existing rules that you have. If you don't I will force it upon you through the law because it is a human right which no one can deny," she said at the start of the hearing. "This is a formality as far as I am concerned." — VC/AMD, GMA News