Pia Cayetano opposes new UAAP transfer rule: 'Lalabanan ko yan'

Mason Amos is among those heavily hit by the new UAAP transfer rule, something Senator Pia Cayetano wants to dispute now. Asiabasket (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANDALUYONG—Senator Pia Cayetano vowed to challenge the new UAAP transfer rule that has already been implemented.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday during the opening-day press conference of the Philippine Open at Play Padel here, Cayetano, also the president of padel, expressed disgust after the premier collegiate league amended its residency ruling regarding student-athletes who transferred from one member school to another.

Coined by some fans as the "Mason Amos Rule", following Amos's highly-publicized transfer from Ateneo to longtime rival La Salle, players who transfer from one member college to another will now lose two playing years, which drew the ire of Cayetano.

"Ang ginawa ngayon, doon sa dulo tatapyasan. Ano ba namang kalokohan yun? Parang kahit bata, maiintindihan na pinapaikot mo lang yun," Cayetano said.

"Galit na galit ako doon. Lalabanan ko yan."

The new rule effectively discourages athletes who have already exhausted three years of eligibility to pack their bags for another UAAP school.

In the case of Amos, who moved to Taft after a stellar rookie year in Loyola Heights, he will only have two playing years left for the Green Archers.

Some other student-athletes who redshirted UAAP Season 87, like Noy Remogat, Gani Stevens, Luis Pablo, and Kean Baclaan, got exemptions to the rule because they transferred during the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic calendar and will remain bound by the old UAAP transfer rule, that is, they only lose one playing year, which is the season they redshirted.

Only those who transferred during the first term of the current school year and hereon, like Amos, will be hit by the new rule.

Cayetano, who is currently seeking reelection as a legislator in the coming May 12 elections, revealed that she is open to amending the Student-Athlete Protection Law due to the UAAP transfer rule tweaks if she makes a Senate return.

"I always hope that I don't have to make a law because there are so many laws I have to work on, pero kung mga ganitong hindi kayang ayusin sa maayos, gagawan ko ng batas yan. Buwisit na buwisit ako doon," she further said.

The said law, which she authored in 2015, challenged a previous proposal by the UAAP that would have required student-athletes who wish to transfer to undergo a two-season redshirting following Koko Pingoy's decision to move to Ateneo for college after a stellar high school campaign at FEU-Diliman and Mikee Bartolome enrolling at the University of the Philippines for her tertiary studies after starring for the University of Santo Tomas in high school swimming.