Outgoing NCAA President Fr. Edwin Lao O.P. announced yesterday that athletes with PEP test certificates must still go through a one-year residency before being allowed to play in the country’s oldest collegiate league.

"It will give the athlete the time to adjust to his new academic environment and at the same time, the NCAA Board will use that amount of time to further evaluate their papers if he or she is eligible to play," said Lao during the turnover ceremony where Letran handed the rein to this year’s host the College of St. Benilde.

"That way, we will be implementing firmer eligibility guidelines to avoid such crucial situations," he added.

Lao, however, stressed that the move isn’t discriminatory to aspiring athletes with PEP test documents since the league just wanted to be consistent with their rules and regulations.

"It may sound a bitter pill to swallow pero para sa ikabubuti ng mga bata iyon. We want to remind them that they are students first before they become athletes. The reason is not to doubt the athletes but to make adjustments to situations," Lao said.

The UAAP was rocked by controversy following the discovery that two La Salle players faked their PEP documents between 2003-05 in order to play for the La Salle Archers. The UAAP Board has yet to act on the matter until now.

Fr. Vic Calvo O.P. of Letran College said that they unearthted some false documents the past stagings of the meet but they were quick to remedy the situation and did not allow the athletes to compete.

"The problem does not lie on the submission of the documents but on the scrutiny of the board to these papers. Kaya nga we wanted to strengthen these rules and regulations and make sure na hindi lang triple check ang gagawin namin sa lahat ng mga papeles," Calvo said.

Incoming Management Committee Chairman Bernie Atienza of St. Benilde, meanwhile, assured that they will continue to boost the image of other sports – not only basketball – this year.

"It will be a more competitive and exciting war next season," Atienza said. "We will improve all the other sports and not concentrate mainly on basketball."

ABS-CBN Vice President for Sports Peter Musngi also hopes to widen their TV coverage when they discuss their new contract with the NCAA Board in the coming months.

The giant television network’s five-year contract with the league ended last year but there is strong indication that the contract of ABS-CBN will be renewed.

"We’re wishing that we can cover and promote more sports. Our intention for the next five years is to highlight not only basketball but the other sports as well," Musngi said.