PVL: Jaja Santiago cleared as local for Creamline stint

Jaja Santiago watching a game in the VNL Women’s Week 2 at PhilSports Arena in Pasig. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Jaja Santiago remains a local player ahead of her homecoming stint in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

Santiago, now a Japanese citizen as Sachi Minowa, still retains her eligibility as a local when she plays for Creamline in the PVL Invitational Conference, as clarified by Control Committee Chairman Sherwin Malonzo.

“She’s still a local based on our eligibility rules,” Malonzo told the Inquirer in Filipino. “She’s also a free agent because she last played in 2021.”

According to the league rulebook on the Eligibility of regular players, a player is eligible to play in the PVL All-Filipino Conference if she is a natural-born Filipino. Filipino-foreigners are required to have a PSA issued Birth Certificate or a Philippine passport.

The 6-foot-5 middle blocker, who played in Japan for the past eight years, got her professional license to play again in the Philippines from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB).

GAB on Thursday announced that Santiago “shared how much she missed playing in the country, emphasizing her gratitude and excitement to once again compete before Filipino volleyball fans.”

The last time Santiago played in the PVL, she was nearly unstoppable.

The former National University star delivered the maiden PVL pro crown to Chery Tiggo by beating Creamline in three games in the finals. She bagged the Conference and Finals MVP and the Best Middle Blocker award in the 2021 PVL bubble in Ilocos Norte.

This time, the former SV.League Best Blocker makes 11-time champion Creamline even more formidable in the Invitational Conference before she flies to the United States.

Santiago will play for the San Francisco Signal in the League One Volleyball (LOVB) starting in January.