Testimonies have surfaced from members of University of the Philippines’ women’s volleyball team of negligence from team management.
On Saturday evening, Yesha Capistrano – a full-blooded Maroon through and through – shared her experience after sustaining two injuries over the past two years. Unfortunately, the school never addressed these glaring issues.
The first injury was a concussion scare during the Fighting Maroons’ campaign in the Shakey’s Super League.
“The first incident that I encountered while on the team is when I hit my head during training. Hindi man lang ako nasamahan or naihatid that night sa hospital para mapa x-ray. Natatakot ako nung gabing yon kasi malakas yung pagkakabagok ko then sabi tomorrow morning na lang magpa x-ray kasi pwede naman daw,” she recalled.
“But, I was so worried kasi what if I had a concussion or whatsoever and didn’t wake up the next morning. But thankfully my ates were there to take care of me and stood by my side when I needed them the most.”
Then another one came a full month before the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament.
The freshman, who played both spiker and libero for UPIS during her high school days, sustained a fractured left index metacarpal during the team’s practice last February 2.
According to Capistrano, team official Angela Villamil never acknowledged or addressed the injury to her or her family.
“She wasn’t present that day and I thought sa mga susunod na araw na hindi ako present sa training ay makakatanggap ako ng kahit anong message galing sa kanya. Pangagamusta, wala. Pagbisita ko sa training, wala man lang, ‘Kamusta ka na?’ o ‘Anong balita sa kamay mo?’,” she shared.
“That’s how much I felt unimportant to her. Even helping me and my mom para asikasuhin yung mga papeles na kailangan, wala siya.”
It was Capistrano’s mom who brought her to the hospital and schedule everything — including the operation.
“My mom was so stressed and worried about me kaya sobrang nahirapan yung mother ko and I hate to see my mom like that just because of me. Thankfully there are a lot of kind people who are willing to help us. She handled all those paper works with Mommy Tin [Luna-De Guia] who works at PGH which is my best friend’s mother,” she shared.
Marist Layug also went on social media to air her family’s grievance after her sister Shine experienced the same ordeal as well.
would you still choose kindness in this kind of situation?
nung na-injured yung kapatid ko wala manlang pangangamusta kahit ooperahan na, lahat ng papeles kami nag-ayos.
In the middle of urgency sobrang out of reach pa, nung need na ng kapatid ko ma-MRI ang tagal mag-respond
— Marist Layug (@maristlayug) March 4, 2023
Multiple sources closely monitoring the situation would, later on, reveal to Tiebreaker Times that the letter sent to Fidel R. Nemenzo last January 29 and a follow-up request sent a week later on were never addressed.
It was only last Wednesday when the school began to take action, beginning with a dialogue between the team and school and team officials.
“As for my experience during my stay there, it was hard, the process, the pain physically, and the missed opportunities were very hard to handle. I don’t know if this kinds of issues are such little things but, I am just sharing my experiences as a rookie that is something that I didn’t expect,” closed Capistrano’s post.
