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Dad of UP swimmer seeks TRO against UAAP's Jerie Pingoy rule

Vic Bartolome, father of Mikee Bartolome, speaks during the two proposed amendments to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) rules and their effects on the youth, at a Senate hearing in Pasay, south of Manila on 01 April 2013. (Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)

The Universities Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) found itself dealing with another temporary restraining order after swimmer Ana Dominique "Mikee" Bartolome and her father Vic filed a TRO in a Quezon City court against the so-called Jerie Pingoy Rule.

Bartolome, a freshman at the University of the Philippines, attended high school at the University of Sto. Tomas where she was a varsity swimmer. She opted to attend college in UP, where her father and siblings also went to school. But UST, invoking the newly-crafted Pingoy Rule, refused to grant her release, forcing Bartolome to wait until 2015 before she can compete in women's swimming.

UP is the defending champion in the women's division and is gunning for a fifth straight championship.

Vic Bartolome said they had exhausted all means to try and persuade UST to grant her daughter's release, and filing the TRO was their only option left since deliberations on varsity swimmers' eligibility starts on September 4, with the swimming competitions running from September 19 to 22.

The elder Bartolome added that he followed all internal procedures for his daughter's release, but UST refused to budge.

"Ang freedom of choice, huwag sana nila ipagdamot," he was quoted as saying. The UP Board of Regents, the university's highest decision-making body, is reportedly supporting the family's decision to file a TRO.

A hearing on the TRO has been set for Monday at 2PM at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court 226. Both the UAAP and UST were named co-defendants. Aside from allowing Mikee to swim, the plaintiff wants a permanent injunction declaring the nullity of the controversial Pingoy Rule.

Senator Pia Cayetano, who organized a public hearing last April 1 to discuss the Pingoy Rule with the Board, assisted the Bartolome family in filing the case. The rule got its name from former FEU Baby Tamaraw Jerie Pingoy, who bolted the FEU camp and enrolled in Ateneo for college. FEU steadfastly refused to release Pingoy, and earlier this year, the Board came up with this new rule requiring junior UAAP players who choose to go to another school for college to sit out two years, unless the mother school grants his or her release.

In a statement, the UAAP Board said it would abide by the decision of the Quezon City RTC.

"Just like Joshua General’s case (who also secured a TRO on his disqualification), the UAAP would be respecting the steps undertaken by the swimmer’s father and honor the orders of the court," the statement read.

"And because a legal case has been filed, the UAAP legal counsel, Atty. Rene Ma. Villa, takes over the handling of the issue. Atty. Villa would only be discussing the merits of the case after Monday’s hearing. Similarly, the UAAP Board, specifically Ms. Malou Isip, would abide by their legal counsel’s advice.

General is a UPIS basketball player who was declared ineligible by the Board last month, resulting in the forfeiture of the Junior Maroons' lone win in the second round. But UPIS coach Allan Gregorio secured a 21-day TRO last August 16, allowing General to suit up again.