What’s holding up DOH?

There is talk that a shift in DOH personnel in the JAO team affiliated with IATF has caused an undue delay in giving CHED the go-signal to restart varsity sports training, leaving college athletes wondering when they can start practicing after a wait of two years. NCR+ is now on Alert Level 2, at least up to Dec. 15 and judging from the numbers of new cases being reported nationwide, it appears that lowering to Alert Level 1 is inevitable. So what’s holding up DOH from moving ahead? Government red tape? Indecisive leadership? Incompetence?

CHED has done its part in inspecting the dorm and campus practice facilities of six UAAP schools. The word is the six schools are nearly 100 percent compliant with safety and health protocols. The only exception is for schools to post more signs on campus reminding students to keep face masks on, observe social distancing and wash their hands often. Obviously, that isn’t a major issue.

Apparently, the new DOH official-in-charge isn’t tuned in to the urgency and importance of reactivating varsity sports, much to the disappointment of student athletes who’ve long been on forced leave. The official-in-charge is supposed to be more inclined to look into community-based than campus-based platforms. The difference in orientation is causing unnecessary delay in moving varsity sports forward even at Alert Level 2. Someone should put some sense into this DOH official’s perspective of the situation before the essence of varsity sports is killed as we know it.

Only two UAAP schools have asked not yet to be inspected because they’re still reengineering their facilities to comply with DOH regulations. CHED won’t wait for every campus to be inspected before allowing the restart of practice, meaning once DOH approves, the schools with clearances may proceed. The schools that haven’t asked to be inspected will be left behind and that’s their look-out.

But when DOH will give its clearance for CHED to allow practice is still a big question mark. Pity the athletes who’s waited so long to start practice. Even an amateur league FilBasket has already finished its tournament and yet, DOH is sitting on campus clearance. When there was word that clearance was forthcoming, schools began to recall their athletes from abroad and the provinces. Now that they’re in town, they’re in limbo and it’s totally unfair for them to suffer this unnecessary wait. With the Christmas holidays coming, it wouldn’t be surprising for DOH to suspend working on the school clearance until the start of the new year. That would be a further injustice. Another injustice would be delaying the start of the UAAP and NCAA seasons because of DOH’s inaction.

There are rumors that at least two schools have started closed-door, confidential practices because waiting for DOH’s clearance has become a tragic comedy. Several varsity players who are in the Gilas pool continue to practice at the Moro Lorenzo gym in Loyola Heights. It appears that DOH has no jurisdiction over Gilas so schools with no players in the national pool are at a disadvantage. DOH’s unexplainable reluctance to give its clearance has caused some schools to skirt the rules and do things irregularly. Why doesn’t DOH just follow IATF rules on Alert Level 2 and allow CHED to do its job to finally give the go-signal for varsity sports to restart training now?