IN the midst of a legal battle over his right to play basketball, 15-year-old Scott Aying is going through an emotional roller coaster.
He was suited up, and shooting baskets Wednesday night when a court sheriff went to the Cebu Coliseum to serve a court order directing sports organizers to allow him to play.
Scott鈥檚 mother was 鈥渧ery jubilant鈥� as well over the Temporary Restraining Order, only to be disappointed again when her son was still not allowed to play, said the family lawyer Donato Gonzales.
鈥淎fter the games were cancelled Wednesday night, he (Scott) has not ben talking. He鈥檚 now practicing with his teammates for their games tomorrow (Sept. 20),鈥� said the lawyer.
鈥淎ying asked his mother last night 鈥楧ili gyud ko nila paduwaon, ma? (Did they really refuse to let me play?)鈥� and the mother responded 鈥淲e will just pray,鈥� he added.
In their petition filed in court, parents described the experience of their son, who was disqualified from playing because of a two-year residency rule which they contest, as 鈥渃hild abuse.鈥�
The coach received the written notice a day before the opening of the basketball tournament. Last-minute appeals were made by his school.
In the afternoon of Aug. 3, the opening games of the basketball league, Coach Reroma called Scott to play during the second quarter.
鈥淭o the shock of the spectators in the jampacked gymnasium, the Cesafi Commissioner, respondent Felix O. Tiukinhoy Jr. stood up from his seat across the other side of the court, went to the side where USC-BED鈥檚 team are and declared: 鈥淚f you let that play, your game will be forfeited!鈥�
According to the complaint, Scott who was at the center of the court 鈥渟hamefully walked towards the side and returned to his seat beside his teammates and started crying.鈥�
The parents said that after their son was 鈥渉umiliated in public, he was bullied by most of his peers鈥� and lost interest in his studies. Scott would lock himself in his room and refused to talk.
The petition seeking court relief opens with a quote from Dr. Leonard Shengold of the American Psychological Association: 鈥淭o abuse or neglect a child, to deprive the child of a separate identity and joy in life, is to commit SOUL MURDER鈥︹��
It said the Cesafi鈥檚 conduct violated Republic Act 7610 which defines child abuse as 鈥渕altreatment of the child鈥�, which can include 鈥渁ny act by deeds or words which debrases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being.鈥�
It also covers 鈥減sychological abuse鈥� and emotional maltreatment.
For this trauma, the parents asked the court to order Cesafi respondents to pay P50,000 in moral damages. /Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol