Gov't agencies looking into alleged UST bubble to submit report to DOJ

The government agencies looking into the "Sorsogon bubble" controversy involving the University of Santo Tomas (UST) men's basketball team will submit a report to the Department of Justice on Monday.

Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Baham Mitra shared this development Friday, following a meeting with representatives from the Commission on Higher Education, Philippine Sports Commission, and the Department of Health.

Reports on the alleged training bubble of the UST men's basketball team surfaced after former team captain CJ Cansino suddenly announced his departure from the university.

Shortly after, the PSC initiated a meeting with the relevant government agencies, the UAAP, and UST,  but the university declined to attend and conducted their own investigation.

The body once again convened on Tuesday, this time attended by representatives from UST and the National University, which is also facing similar allegations.

The two universities submitted a report, which was later reviewed by the UAAP Board of Managing Directors on Thursday.

The league said it will be submit recommendations for further action to the UAAP Board of Trustees (BOT), but they did not disclose the details "out of respect to the member-school concerned and the decision-making process of the BOT."

Meanwhile, Mitra said the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is exploring the conduct of sports training for students. So far, only professional sports have been given the green light to return to the gym.

He said that GAB will meet with professional sports leagues to share best practices that amateur sports can adopt.

"I am confident that the pros would be willing to share what they are doing because after all, it's one industry and everyone is concerned with each other. If one accident happens to one, then the whole group is affected," said Mitra. —MGP, GMA News