The St. Robert’s International Academy expressed disappointment over the decision of the National Screening and Accreditation Committee (NSAC) to disqualify six badminton competitors for the Palarong Pambansa 2019 representing Western Visayas.
The NSAC released a resolution disqualifying the athletes last April 17 after their residency in Iloilo could not be verified.
They reportedly came from Whackers Badminton Academy in Victoria, Laguna.
“That was the evidence they presented in the resolution but I have a barangay clearance that can attest that these students have been staying with me since 2017 and some of these students already played during the Palarong Pambansa 2018,” Eunice Ga-an told TIMES on Tuesday.
“So how would they question the residency of these students when they have already played in previous events?” she added.
The committee’s action to release the resolution one day prior to the Holy Week holiday seemed very suspicious, she said.
Ga-an suspected that the delayed release gave them no chance to file a motion for reconsideration.
“Actually, the resolution is questionable because they based on residency of these students. They are very much qualified so why they need to base the residency on the birth certificates of the students when that is only the birth place?” Ga-an said.
Since the start of Palarong Pambansa 2019, the students have not yet played a single event in Badminton.
Some parents of the athletes already flew all the way from Manila to settle the issue and they are still awaiting the response of the Department of Education.
