Prelude or postscript: The De la Salle case

A five-man fact-finding committee of the UAAP board has begun its own inquiry into the eligibility scandal affecting certain senior varsity basketball players of the De la Salle University. It will be recalled that early this month, a somewhat abbreviated 2-page report submitted by University officials was found woefully incomplete by the board.

In that report, former assistant team manager Manny "Suntok-Takbo" Salgado and team statistician Raul "Awoo" Lacson were pinpointed as the persons who helped player Mark Benitez secure a fake college eligibility certification from the Department of Education. The two have disputed that finding, but there is no indication yet whether the University will vary the ruling on that issue. In addition, several team officials, including team manager Terry Capistrano and coach Franz Pumaren, tendered their resignations which reportedly have been accepted by University president Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC.

Although the media frenzy over the affair has largely died down, the fallout is still rumbling throughout the league. The consensus is that no real closure was achieved and that the matter, and all it implies for college amateur sports in the country, remains open.

Many DLSU alumni are dissatisfied with the "sanctions" meted out so far. They feel the penalties, if they can be called that, have been half-hearted and limp-wristed. A number of sports icons and hall-of-famers in the school have called for stronger punishment and, more important, definitive statements from the school administration about what they plan to do to avoid repetition of this embarrassing episode.

In the meantime, a few more interesting facts have been disclosed to us by a very reliable source in regard to the Mark Benitez saga. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of this story. The source has no reason to misrepresent or embellish the facts. The person told it only to put the story in some context. In that he has succeeded, but the impression one is left with is that in the ruthless quest for victory, the competition in the recruitment process for promising varsity players can become so cut-throat as to disregard if not openly violate ethical and legal boundaries.

I’m sure some will say this story is somewhat self-serving, considering the actors. I’ll tell it anyway. You be the judge.

It appears that even when Mark Benitez was in the UAAP junior basketball league, a number of schools had already marked him for possible "pirating" from his alma mater Jose Rizal University. Well over six feet, he was spotted as a possible power forward or center. His father, who has emerged as a key figure in this controversy, accompanied by a well-known recruiter of college players, brought Mark to the Ateneo University sometime in September 2001 to see then senior varsity coach Joe Lipa.

Benitez, with two other applicants, were later presented to Fr. Tito Caluag, head of alumni affairs and athletic coordinator, to discuss their possible entry into Ateneo. Benitez started reviewing for the Ateneo college entrance tests during the 2001 Christmas school break and in January of 2002, actually sat for the admission tests.

However, according to our source, in March of that year, Mark sent word that JRU would not be willing to let Mark go to another school. He was apparently told that he would fail his fourth year in high school. The source is unclear if this was a threat by the school, which would obviously be improper, or if Mark was simply told that his grades wouldn’t allow him to graduate from high school.

When informed in April of 2002 that Ateneo did not as a matter of policy accept the DepEd Philippine Educational Placement Test Certificate of Rating for admission into college, Benitez replied that he would begin practicing with the University of the East team. But later that same month, he was invited by DLSU varsity team managers and coaching staff to discuss his joining the senior basketball team. In that discussion, it was supposedly concluded that the only way Mark could get into De la Salle was if he obtained the PEPTCR certificate.

The problem was that it was already April and the PEP test was administered only in March and November of each year. The source claims that there was nevertheless an attempt to "insert" his name among the March 2002 examinees, but this was allegedly "put on hold" since the DepEd was investigating reports that the PEP certifications were being "sold" for P5,000. I know that this seems on the low side but my source insists that that was the going price.

In May, Benitez sent feelers to the Ateneo that he wasn’t happy with the DLSU "arrangements," particularly the fact that he was unable to join the team for the 2002 season. Then Ateneo coach Joel Banal did not object but referred the matter back to Fr. Caluag who, in a luncheon meeting with Mark, said the latter would have to stay in high school and finish his final year. Fr. Tito reiterated that Ateneo would not accept a PEP certification. That was Ateneo’s last formal contact with Benitez.

In June 2002, the Ateneo senior basketball team had a team-building exercise in Tagaytay for that year’s season. At lunch, they coincidentally saw the De la Salle team. Mark Benitez was among the La Salle players. In November 2002 Mark took the PEP test and the rest, as my source says, is history. In the 2003 season, Mark was a proud member of the DLSU senior varsity basketball team.

The source wonders how Mark was able to take the November PEP test. At the time, it seems, there was a DepEd regulation that the test could only be taken if the student was older than 21 years, or if he had been out of school for at least two years. In 2002, Benitez was less than 21 and was still in fourth year high school at JRU.

One can, of course, infer a lot of shenanigans in what was left out of the source’s story. But we’ll leave the fleshing out of the tale, or its total debunking, to the UAAP investigators. It may well be that all this proves, yet again, is that some are smarter than others. But if you ask me, I really doubt it.