Eligibility sanctions on Perpetual Help Altas hurts their NCAA Season

This appears in the sports pages of the July 16, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.
Eligibility sanctions on Perpetual Help Altas hurts their NCAA Season

story and picture by rick olivares

After the athletics program of the Philippine Christian University (PCU) was mothballed after a player eligibility scandal that rocked the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2007, its players found refuge in other schools most particularly in San Beda (Jake Pascual), College of Saint Benilde (Tim McCoy), Adamson (Jaypee Importante), and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (Jett Vidal, Mark Sumera, George Allen, and Jaycee Asuncion).


To fill the void a few years later, three guests teams were invited – Angeles University Foundation, Arellano University, and Emilio Aguinaldo College with the latter two staying on for probationary membership. As for PCU, according to current NCAA President Frank Gusi of San Sebastian College, there has been no word as to whether they will apply for reinstatement. The fallout on the other hand is still being felt in the NCAA today.

Two days prior to the tip off of Season 86, the NCAA Management Committee (ManCom) met for a second time to discuss a complaint that UPHSD had two ineligible players – Marlon Gomez and Paul Nuilan – in its line-up. The complaint as filed by Jose Rizal University and Colegio de San Juan de Letran, mentioned that the two players were respectively enrolled in the previous school year. And as per NCAA transferee rules, they should sit out a year. But that wasn’t the graver misdeed, according to the complainants, the two in transferring to Perpetual Help made use of other school documents for enrollment. Added Gusi, “They passed the wrong documents and that is a violation of our rules.”

While in this writer’s further conversation with Gusi, he said that the two were facing not just suspension but also outright banning. What this meant for UPHSD as a member school, Gusi wasn’t sure yet. “We have to tackle this in a future meeting.”

Perpetual Help officials filed an appeal and furnished papers that they said debunked the accusations that they were enrolled in those respective schools.

Following the suspension of PCU, former Jose Rizal University (JRU) coach Ariel Vanguardia recruited Gomez. The former PCU Dolphin practiced with the Heavy Bombers several times during the summer of 2009 while he signed a conditional waver that stipulated that he will only be officially enrolled only upon submission of the proper transfer documents to the JRU registrar.

Weeks later, Gomez found out that his former teammates were headed to UPHSD and instead of submitting his release papers from PCU to JRU, he brought them over to Las Piñas where Perpetual Help is located.

Vanguardia received a text message from Gomez that he would instead go to Perpetual Help. In an interview with Vanguardia on two separate occasions, he certified that Gomez never enrolled in JRU. “He was just there for the summer and when he stopped practicing, I found out that he had left the dorm. He never went to class and never enrolled. He just signed a waiver that said he can only be officially enrolled if he submits his papers from PCU. He should be allowed to play,” said Vanguardia. “If JRU says that he has some grades, how those came about should be investigated because he never was enrolled.”

Nuilan in the meantime spent several years with FEU’s Team B before he decided that the only way he could move up to a senior squad was if he transferred to another school. His last enrollment at the Morayta school was during school year 2007-08.

Nuilan immediately transferred to Letran the following school year 2008-09 where he enrolled with the promissory note that he would submit his transfer papers from FEU. What that also meant was that he could only be considered officially enrolled if he had all the correct papers.

By the time he received his Certificate of Transfer from FEU in May 4, 2009, it had been more than five months since he last attended classes in Letran. Instead of formalizing his enrollment with Letran, he instead used his release papers to go to Perpetual Help.

Both Gomez and Nuilan both informed UPHSD officials that they both went to JRU and Letran but their enrollment was never truly certified.

The two played with the Perpetual Altas during the Fil Oil Invitational Tournament of the summer of 2010 and after a slow start, the team of second year head coach Boris Aldeguer began to turn heads with gutty performances. Said Aldeguer, “The other NCAA schools saw us play with Gomez and Nuilan. Now if they really consider the NCAA to be a family then they should have pointed out right away that we had players who could be a problem. Instead, they passed the first screening of eligibility and ManCom only called for a second one to address complaints about them. Why wasn’t it done in the first pass?”

Gusi contended that the complainant schools had to gather their evidence in the form of grades. JRU showed a list of Gomez’ alleged grades where he failed in all subjects except Accounting.

Perpetual Help appealed but instead of the case being elevated to the Policy Board such as in the case of former PCU Baby Dolphin Jake Pascual who previously transferred to San Beda, ManCom turned it down a second time. A visibly upset Aldeguer who is mulling his options blasted the ManCom decision. “Of course, they will turn it down. They will not contradict themselves. They should have elevated it.”

UPHSD officials contend that Gomez’ and Nuilan’s non-enrollment with JRU and Letran is like going to the United States. One may buy a ticket to say Los Angeles but without a visa, one cannot be granted entry. Or it could be like getting married in Church. The marriage will not be consecrated unless both parties produce their birth certificates. “They (Gomez and Nuilan) were never truly enrolled in the sense of the word and they had served their one year residency with us already. They should be allowed to play.” summed up Perpetual Help Athletics Director Mr. Moises Lozada.

Gusi refuted Lozada’s arguments and said that the NCAA has its rules.

The effect on the Altas in the early days of Season 86 has been devastating. The team is floundering without their two big men. As of today, the Altas are at 0-4. Gomez and Nuilan are wondering if their college basketball days are over.

“Given that Ariel Vanguardia said that Gomez should rightfully play, the NCAA should quickly look into this matter,” said a fuming Aldeguer after the Altas absorbed their fourth straight loss in the tournament following an 87-69 drubbing by Letran last July 9, 2010. “We’ve been building a nice and honest program here and just like that they’re going to wreck it.”