Senator Pia Cayetano condemns UAAP boycott; UAAP Board distances away

The Honorable Senator Pia Cayetano deplored the "boycott" that took place during the UAAP swimming competitions at Trace College in Laguna.

She released the following statement to the media:

"I condemn the boycott instigated by certain school officials  at the UAAP swimming competitions in support of the UAAP Board's brazen refusal to abide by the court rulings affirming Mikee Bartolome's right to swim in the school of her choice.

"There's nothing to gain from the boycott, except to send the message that the UAAP is too high and too proud to take orders from anyone, including from our honorable courts, even if they trample on the rights of student-athletes.

"By preventing the student-athletes from openly competing and showcasing their talents, the UAAP leadership is proving that promoting the dev't of the student-athletes is not their priority. Instead they would prefer to create a culture of protectionism  in support of their narrow institutional interests.

"Sabotaging the swimming competitions will not resolve this issue. Now, not only Mikee but the rest of the student swimmers as well are suffering from the UAAP leadership's intransigence.

"This is a sad sad day in Philippine sports."

In response, the UAAP Board released their own statement.

THE UAAP Board remains respectful of a court order against the imposition of the “two-year residency rule” for fresh high school graduates who transfer from one member school to another.

The board is doing so in the case of University of the Philippines (UP) freshman Anna Dominique “Mikee” Bartolome, a swimmer from UST high school, whose father brought his daughter’s case to court and earned a temporary restraining order and eventually an order preventing the UAAP from imposing the two-year residency rule.

As a result of the court order, the UAAP has no recourse but to heed and revert to the previous rule which has been imposed for decades. The old rule requires a freshman student-athlete who transfers from one UAAP school to another to complete one year of residency.

The court order was specific on the “two-year” rule which was imposed only this Season 76, and not on the previously accepted “one-year” rule. It would be worse for the UAAP if it also lifts the long accepted one-year rule.

In Bartolome’s case, she, like all other freshman transferees before her, must undergo the one-year residency before she could swim for UP. Bartolome’s elder sister served a one-year residency before she could eventually compete for the Fighting Maroons.

On the “boycott” of swimmers in events Bartolome competed or will compete in, the UAAP Board did not order such, nor did it instigate the move. The board in general deemed it as the schools’ decision, perhaps as a sign of personal indignation or protest.

Adamson University, the season host, in particular, would not instigate any protest. The Soaring Falcons only have one female entry in the swimming competitions.

The UAAP Board’s decision to heed the court order was unanimously agreed upon by its members during an emergency meeting on Thursday (September 19).

The boycotts are centered on the participation of Mikee Bartolome, who secured a temporary restraining order against both UST and the UAAP with regards to the imposition of the eligibility rules towards the UP college student and ertswhile UST HS alumna. Excluding the Ateneo de Manila Blue Tankers, the other UAAP schools in the same events as Bartolome either withdrew from the competition or disqualified themselves.