At least three lawmakers are proposing reforms in Philippine basketball while congratulating the men’s basketball teams who competed in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship games.
“As an Atenean, I congratulate the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles Men’s Basketball Team while I also laud the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons for giving all of us an exciting UAAP Championship Game,” BHW party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co of ADMU Class of 2011.
UP alumna and Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera said “championship game pressure once again produced a set of victors and many memorable moments.”
In a separate statement, Manila Rep. Joel Chua said “championship game pressures test the composure and talent of any team and its athletes. Not to be overlooked is the sportsmanship of players and their coaches who resisted the temptations of unsportsmanlike conduct on and off the court.”
The lawmakers urged the UAAP, NCAA and other sports leagues to use lessons learned from the just-concluded college basketball season to craft new rules addressing unsportsmanlike conduct on and off the court and to address the new sports environment that has opened for Filipino players and coaches.
Co called on the UAAP to “take a hard look at the new and quickly evolving amateur and professional basketball environment, especially now that our best basketball athletes and even coaches now have foreign leagues are alternatives to the PBA and other local leagues.”
New international linkages, sports investments, and rules seem necessary now given the emerging challenges and circumstances, he said, urging the UAAP and all the amateur and professional leagues “to factor in compliance with our sports laws, including RA 10676 (Student-Athletes Protection Act) and RA 11180 (Athletic Programs Report Act).”
“Safety and security of spectators and everyone on the playing court and sidelines must be assured at all times. The mental health impact of the pandemic on all their varsity players may have to be thoroughly assessed. Rules of engagement between the UAAP and the
Philippine National Police might be necessary given the troubling incidents of violence coming with unsportsmanlike conduct…Let post-season break be time to review, and amend policies on sportsmanship, violence, abuse, and athletes’ welfare,” Herrera said.
Chua cited that only last July, the Commission on Higher Education issued guidelines on tertiary sports development.
“Sadly, there is nothing specific in the policy document, CHED Memorandum Order No. 8, series of 2022, that deals with violence and abuse,” he said.
“The language and construction of such policies and changes to their manuals of regulations should not be vague, ambiguous, non-specific, or non-committal. Such regulations should be enforceable and actionable. For contact sports and team sports, there have to be special provisions on head injuries, anger management, conflict de-escalation, and resolution,” he added.