Residency nixed for transferring student-athletes as Cayetano’s bill passes

MANILA, Philippines – Transferring high school student-athletes will no longer have to dread potential residency-related repercussions after Senate Bill No. 2226, in consolidation with House Bill No. 51115, was ratified by congress on Wednesday, June 10.

The announcement was made on Twitter by Senator Pia Cayetano, who for years now has fought against school athletic associations imposing residency rules on transferring high school student-athletes.

“School athletic assocs are now prohibited fr imposing a residency rule on HS grads transferring to a diff school in college,” Cayetano tweeted late Wednesday night.

Today Congress ratified my student-athlete’s bill on residency and commercialization. pic.twitter.com/BsGN5BTQbr

— pia cayetano (@piacayetano) June 10, 2015

School athletic assocs are now prohibited fr imposing a residency rule on HS grads transferring to a diff school in college.

— pia cayetano (@piacayetano) June 10, 2015

Under section 5 in Cayetano’s ratified bill, it states that “The Student-Athlete shall be free from any act of restriction or punishment by the old and/or the new school due to his transfer from the former to the latter.”

Under section 6, it says that “No residency requirement shall be imposed on a high school Student-Athlete transferring to another high school or to a college or university.” 

It’s also indicated that, if a student-athlete transfers from one college or university to another, “a maximum period of one (1)-year residency may be imposed by athletic associations.”

Those associations affected by these new developments, according to the bill, includes the PRISAA, UAAP, NCAA, WNCAA, SCUAA, CESAFI, NCRAA, ALCUAA, and NAASCU.

Under section 13, it says that “This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.”

The ratification of Cayetano’s bill means that athletes such as Hubert Cani and Mark Dyke, both from National University high school, no longer need to complete the original two-year residency rule imposed by the UAAP after they opted to transfer to Ateneo and La Salle, respectively.

(READ: The Tug of War for Hubert Cani)

Cani, who already served one year of residency last UAAP season, and Dyke could both suit up for their respective schools in the 2015 UAAP season.

– Rappler.com