THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policy board has allowed San Beda College’s Elvin Jake Pascual to play in the 84th season—which starts this Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum—thus overturning an earlier ruling by the league’s Management Committee (Mancom) to ban the boy from playing this season.

“We cannot say that he knowingly violated the existing rules,” said policy board chairman Dr. Reynaldo Vea, also the president of season host Mapua Institute of Technology, after emerging from a three-hour meeting at the ELJ Building inside the ABS-CBN complex.

“We [were just looking] into all the angles,” said Vea, when asked why the meeting took so long.

The Mancom had earlier barred Pascual from playing this season after he repeated his junior high-school year at the Philippine Christian University (PCU). He already reached his senior year at the St. Rose Catholic School in Paniqui, Tarlac.

Mancom also said that Pascual misrepresented himself after he submitted school records from his sophomore year so he can enter PCU as a junior student.

Pascual said in an affidavit that he did not know that he violated NCAA rules and that his former PCU juniors coach, Bong Sales, perpetuated the fraud.

Henry Atayde, College of Saint Benilde Mancom representative, who also represented the school in the policy board for that meeting, said that there are grey areas in the rule on misrepresentation.

Meanwhile, Joe Lipa, commissioner of the NCAA basketball tournament, assured coaches of better officiating this season.

“There will always be lapses in officiating but I assure you that there will be fair officiating. We have a competent staff to officiate. I assure you we will do everything to have fair officiating,” said Lipa during the league’s press launch Monday.

The NCAA opens Saturday at the Big Dome at 1 p.m., after which San Beda tackles Mapua at 2 p.m. Jose Rizal takes on Letran at 4, Perpetual faces San Sebastian at 6 and PCU goes up against Saint Benilde at 8 p.m. Juniors action starts Monday at the Cuneta Astrodome.

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