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The president of the COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHED), Prospero de Vera III, declared Thursday that the University of Santo Tomás (UST) broke health protocols by simply allowing its men’s basketball team, the Growling Tigers, to maintain a Training “bubble” in Sorsogon City.
“Yes, I think it is evident that holding a student activity in a distant place … clearly there appears to be a violation of the IATF rules,” said de Vera.
The Interagency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has already relaxed the protocols for returning to training in sports, but still disapproves of team training, even more so traveling in a large group to any part of the country.
De Vera also said that UST did not deny knowledge of the “Sorsogon bubble,” revealing the gist of UST’s report of its internal investigation of the controversy that the school refuses to disclose to the public.
The head of CHED beat out the president of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) Abraham Mitra and even the executive director of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), Atty. Rebo Saguisag and De La Salle’s 83rd season president Emmanuel Calanog in making a statement about the UST “bubble”.
The GAB, UAAP, the Department of Health and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) make up the body that investigates the alleged “bubble” that also involved the National University. However, the PSC did not receive a copy of the report that UST attorneys presented to the agency on Tuesday.
“They [UST] admitted that [something] happened and UST didn’t even deny that there was a bubble, even [the] The coach did not deny that there was a bubble, “said De Vera, but did not reveal if the coach he was referring to was Aldin Ayo.
Tigers head coach Ayo is at the epicenter of the controversy because the alleged “bubble” took place in his hometown of Sorsogon.
“Student posts attest that there is a bubble,” added De Vera, referring to revelations made by former UST star CJ Cansino on social media.
Despite reaching a serious conclusion, De Vera said he has not yet determined the sanctions that could be imposed on UST.
“We are in the stage of verifying who are responsible for the infraction based on the report presented by the university’s legal team,” he said.
But de Vera acquitted the student athletes of any crime.
“Student athletes or players who joined UST head coach Aldin Ayo in Sorsogon will not be held accountable to the IATF,” he said, hinting that the athletes, who are under the age of 21, may have been forced to join the bubble.
The IATF prohibits people over the age of 20 and 60 from leaving their homes.
