NCAA to review eligibility rules

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is likely to review its own policy on player eligibility amidst the controversy raging in the UAAP involving two La Salle players with alleged spurious admission papers.

NCAA Management Committee chair Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, of Letran College said he would bat for the inclusion of that subject on their agenda when the board holds a three-day workshop and seminar starting Monday in Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

"I’ll propose that we discuss the issue," said Calvo.

There were reports that some NCAA players have gained eligibility in the league using a fake Philippine Educational Placement Test Certificate of Rating (PEPTCR) just like in the UAAP.

The PEPTCR is a document used for admission in college in the absence of a diploma.

The board is expected to discuss further the possibility of imposing a one-year residency for a player with a PEPTCR so as to give the board time to verify the authenticity of the document.

"We’ve been discussing that and we’ll take that up again in the three-day workshop," said Mapua board representative and Mancom member Ding Lozano.

But Bernie Atienza of College of St. Benilde, next year’s NCAA host, felt there is no need for the league to make changes in eligibility requirements next year.

"We have been consistently strict on our eligibility requirements," said Atienza. "Personally, I see no reason why we should go beyond our normal procedures but we’ll see what we can come up with."

The controversy started when La Salle announced on Oct. 12 that it is investigating a player, who played from 2003-2005, with a fake PEPTCR. A few weeks after the admission, the Department of Education announced another player, who didn’t make the La Salle line-up this year but saw action in 2003 and 2004, with bogus papers.

Although La Salle and DepEd refused to name the players, internet message boards and newspaper reports point to center Mark Benitez as the first player and guard Tim Gatchalian the second.

The DepEd is also verifying the authenticity of the PEPTCR result of Mark Cardona, now a Talk N’ Text rookie.