UAAP: Board votes to keep 'Jerie Pingoy' rule

The UAAP has decided to keep its two-year residency rule for high school graduates transferring to a different member university, despite a hearing conducted by Senator Pia Cayetano, who was vehemently opposed to the measure.

UAAP Board voted to uphold the 2-Year residency requirement to beeffective UAAP 76. Currently working on explanatory rules andguidelines

— inboundpass (@inboundpass) April 16, 2013

During its annual board meeting, the league opted to pass the rule, which it approved last March with a vote of 5-2, without any changes, though it is still working on the fine details of its implementation.

During that March meeting, Ateneo and UP voted against the modified measure, with hosts NU not voting. The new rule was roundly criticized by athletes and fans of the league, with prominent amateur stars tweeting out against it.

[Related: UAAP players react on Twitter to new high school residency rule]

Last April 1, Senator Cayateno, herself a former UAAP athlete, brought several experts to discuss the impact of the rule on the student-athletes, as well as parents from affected kids. She also told the representatives of the UAAP, "You present the athletes with a terrible choice: stay with a school that isn't your first choice, or move to a school that you want but not play the sport which is your first love.

"I will call it a spade: the rule protects the institution more than it protects the child."

[Related: Sen. Pia Cayetano decries high school residency rule]

Afterwards, Senator Cayetano recommended that there not be any residency rules for incoming college students, and a one-year residency for college-to-college transfers, but the UAAP board adamantly stuck to their guns.

In the past, a high school graduate student-athlete going to a different UAAP university was forced to sit out a year, unless his or her high school granted a release. The new rule increase the length of the residency to two years. It is not yet known if high schools will still be allowed to grant releases under its new incarnation.

The new rule is informally called the "Jerie Pingoy rule" after FEU-FERN standout Jerie Pingoy's move to transfer to Ateneo de Manila University for college. The bluechip recruit is one of those directly affected by the ruling and his father was one of the resource persons during the hearing. - AMD, GMA News