By Vince Matthew Jaramilla

After facing issues in securing a travel clearance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on time, Far Eastern University (FEU) - Diliman chesser and Women’s FIDE (International Chess Federation) Master (WFM) Ruelle Canino joined the Philippine team competing in the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championship 2025 to be held from April 22 to May 2 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Grandmaster (GM) Daniel Quizon, International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina, and Woman GM (WGM) and FEU chess team assistant coach Janelle Mae Frayna complete the national regiment.

Canino’s clearance woes were raised by WGM Frayna in a Facebook post last Tuesday, April 22, asking for help and calling out the DSWD for processing delays which caused the chess prodigy to worry about missing the flight to Mongolia.

“April, first week pa lang, prino-process na nila ang DSWD clearance… Sobrang tagal ng process. There was zero reply. Digitization usually means mas bibilis dapat ang proseso pero ba't naman po ganun (They had been processing the DSWD clearance since the first week of April... The process takes so long. There was zero reply. Digitization usually means the process becomes faster but why is it like this)?” the post read.

She also stated in the comment section that other than the DSWD’s approval, everything was already prepared from the flight tickets to their hotel accommodation.

However, the FEU-Diliman student-athlete still had to sit out the team’s departure at 8 a.m. of the same day.

The travel clearance was needed in compliance with Article IV, Section 8 of the Republic Act No. 7610 or the ‘Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act,’ which states the requirement of a DSWD-issued clearance for unaccompanied minors like Canino to travel abroad.

In an online interview with FEU Advocate, Canino’s elder sister Rhea Canino disclosed that the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) did prepare the documents for the clearance request in the first week of April.

Afterwards, their father Ruel Canino went to the DSWD central office in Batasan on April 11 after receiving the files two days prior but was instructed to apply online.

The family immediately did as prompted, then returned to the central office for the screening of the documents on April 16, wherein they were told to wait for an email about the result to be sent after the checking process.

The process was done by Sunday, April 20, but the request was disapproved. They then received no return responses for their succeeding reapplications, according to Rhea.

“Sabi lang po nila na itse-check at mag-i-email sila regarding it. Pero April 20 na nila chineck, at na-disapprove po. Ang sabi, mag-reapply daw. We did po—mga three times na—pero wala na pong response after that (They assured us that they will check it and then send us an email regarding it. But they finished checking by April 20 and it was disapproved. They told us to reapply. We did, around three times already, but there was no response after that),” she said.

This ultimately led to WGM Frayna’s call for help online.

Fortunately, in the afternoon of April 22, the DSWD finally approved Canino’s travel clearance and through the NCFP and the Philippine Sports Commission’s support; she was scheduled for a flight just in time before her first game yesterday, April 23.

Despite the resolution, Rhea showed frustration for the delays they had to face, but was also grateful for the people who helped her sister.

“It’s really frustrating for us, lalo na po sa kapatid ko, kasi she’s going to compete. Pinaghandaan po talaga niya itong tournament na ito, tapos ganito lang ang mangyayari… But thankfully, madami pong tumulong para makakuha ng travel clearance (It’s really frustrating for us, especially for my sister, because she’s going to compete. We really prepared for this tournament, but this was what transpired… But thankfully, many people helped to secure the travel clearance),” the fellow FEU chess player shared.

She also expressed hope for a smoother and communicative process in the future.

“Hopefully, mas organized na po ang process ng pagkuha. If they want to shift to online, sana hindi nila biglain. Mas maganda sana kung may option pa rin for walk-in, lalo na para sa mga urgent na alis. And sana rin, they can be more responsive sa emails and calls,” Rhea added.

Another step for Canino

Coming off a gold finish for the Philippine Women’s Chess Team in the 45th World Chess Olympiad in September last year, Canino and Frayna are representing the country once again in their division.

The FEU-Diliman standout also just finished her University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 stint, securing individual gold medals in the standard, rapid, and blitz chess tournaments.

Highly touted due to her potential to be one of the next WGMs of the country, Canino looks to gain more experience and increase her rating in Mongolia.

Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championship 2025 is a tournament organized by the Mongolian Chess Federation and Asian Chess Federation where players of 17 countries from East and Southeast Asia compete to qualify for the FIDE World Cup 2025 and FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 set to occur from October 31 to November 27 and from July 5 to 29, respectively.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)