By Randy Espares Jr. 

Far Eastern University (FEU) Wellness and Recreation Program (WRP) Department Acting Coordinator Anthony Cawaling justified the prerequisites of credited UAAP matches to more than merely observing the games. 

“‘Yung UAAP [credited games] natin, hindi lang sila pumunta just for the sake of watching lang, it has to be aligned (Our UAAP [credited games], they would not go just for the sake of watching, it has to be aligned),” he clarified in an interview with FEU Advocate. 

WRP Department has provided 250 free tickets to students for FEU’s mens basketball match against Adamson University marking the first credited game this semester, last October 16. 

Participants will earn three hours of WRP credit if they are able to claim the ticket at FEU R. Papa Gym and adhere to the conditions set by WRP. 

However, students complained regarding the prerequisites in order to gain the credit hours. 

WRP announced Canvas conditions for games to be credited including students needing to attend at least one regular WRP activity of basketball or cheer dancing.

The following activities should only come from the current semester. 

“Kung pumunta ka do’n dapat meron ka ring alam sa pinapanood mo…if you’re gonna watch something na involved ‘yung for example basketball or may cheerdance dapat may idea ka bago pumunta doon (If you go there you should know something about what you are watching…if you’re gonna watch like basketball or cheerdance you should have an idea before you go there),” Cawaling added. 

The acting coordinator also pointed out the importance of cheering for FEU players during UAAP season. 

“Kaya pinush din ng Athletics [Department] ‘yang ano natin para magkaroon tayo ng crowd, kasi nabo-boost ‘yung morale ng players natin kapag may nagche-cheer (That is why the Athletics [Department] pushed for this is for us to have a crowd, it boosts the morale of our players if there’s people cheering)” he explained.

Furthermore, Cawaling emphasized that they want to instill reading comprehension for students before they start asking questions. 

“Ang gusto rin kasi natin mangyari, na ituro sa mga estudyante, matuto rin sila munang magbasa muna before they act (What we want to happen, is to teach the students, to read first before they act),” the coordinator said.

Cawaling cited the culminating activity WRP Festival as an example. 

“Actually nangyari ‘yan nitong ano natin din eh nitong festival natin (Actually that happened during our festival), there [are] lots of questions but it's already there on the pubmat, so we wanted them actually to read first before sila mag-act out (Before they act out),” he further stressed. 

Moreover, students also call for the accreditation of self-purchased tickets apart from the free tickets that WRP offers for the basketball tournament.

In the first round match of FEU men’s basketball team against University of Santo Tomas, self-bought tickets were allowed to be credited. 

The guideline was then retracted for the second round of the FEU men's basketball tournament. 

Other UAAP games are still in consideration if they will be credited such as volleyball, cheerdance, and women’s basketball. 

-With reports from Jenah Chel Javier

(Photo by Karch Rafael/FEU Advocate)