UAAP chief Saguisag tells athletes to ‘vote wisely’ as league bursts bubble for May 9

MANILA, Philippines – The UAAP has momentarily broken its bubble setup for basketball and closed-circuit arrangement for volleyball to allow student-athletes, coaches, and other team and league staff to vote on Monday, May 9.

As the league takes a break to make way for the presidential election, the league’s former commissioner and current executive director Rebo Saguisag has a simple message for all voters connected with the UAAP.

“I encourage everyone to vote. That’s a very sacred right. You can argue we are living in very interesting times. It matters not only for their generation but for generations to come,” he said.

Saguisag clarified that athletes will only need to submit themselves to antigen testing and get a negative result upon returning from their respective voting precincts in order to immediately be eligible for succeeding games.

Only the two basketball finalist remain locked in a full bubble setup – the UP Fighting Maroons and the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Meanwhile, the volleyball tournament only started last May 5, so all eight participating teams remain in the closed-circuit (home-venue-home) system.

Unlike the basketball teams, who are set to return to action on Wednesday, May 11, members of the various volleyball squads – especially provincial voters – will have a much tighter timeframe to beat as the league’s quadruple-header schedule immediately resumes on Tuesday, May 10, at 10 am.

However, a positive test for basketball will have a much bigger impact, given the fact that it is already the finals.

Easing worries of fans and media, Saguisag gave his assurance that teams will not muck up this temporary protocol breach as they perform their civic duties outside their homes and schools.

“I’m checking with the schools, and they’re really careful anyway,” continued Saguisag. “Private cars, double masks, avoiding crowds, all that. They will just vote and leave [immediately]. They are self-regulating [with protocols].”

“If they test positive, then that’s unfortunate. You have to isolate. Hopefully, no one will. But this decision will make a very big impact for our country, so choose wisely.” – Rappler.com