THE University of Santo Tomas’s (UST) Growling Tigers coached by Aldin Ayo are on the hot seat for allegedly clandestinely returning to training in a facility in Sorsogon City.
The Tigers allegedly trained in an undisclosed gym in Sorsogon in June, but it was only recently when the UST men’s team “bubble” got pricked, prompting national government, health and sports officials to order for an investigation.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Imerging Infectious Diseases still do not allow team training and competition and indoor sports amid the existing quarantines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) called the team’s attention, but handed the task of investigating the team to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
UST officials also said it would conduct its own investigation.
“Today, we heard the news about the alleged breach of quarantine protocols by the UST Basketball Team in Sorsogon City. Accordingly, we created a committee to investigate and to inquire into the matter,” UST said in a statement on Sunday.
On Saturday, the PSC expressed alarm over the alleged violation but heeded the UAAP’s authority over the Growling Tigers.
“The PSC recognizes the UAAP as the mother organization of the concerned team and trusts that proper actions shall be done on this matter,” the PSC said also in a statement.“Above all considerations at this time, the safety of the athletes must always be paramount.”
Just how the team got to Sorsogon City from Manila when domestic flights were scarce is a wonder for officials. Travel by land between both cities covers 515 kms and officials said it would require extreme effort and connections to penetrate stiff checkpoints in between regions, provinces, cities and towns.
Ayo is a former councilor of Sorsogon City. He is affiliated with the Nationalist Peoples Coalition, the same party as incumbent Sorsogon City Mayor Ma. Ester Hamor and Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero.
Speculations also arose that leads to the Tigers’ “bubble” leaked following the expulsion of one of the team’s stars, team captain CJ Cansino.
Cansino claimed he wasn’t officially informed of the grounds of his expulsion from the team, prompting allegations that he was dropped for refusing to join the Sorsogon “bubble.”
He is now with the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons although he has to complete a year’s residency before being able to play in the UAAP.
1 comment
Wrong spelling po. ”Emerging”