Since the early 2000s, Philippine esports have grown through grassroots community efforts from internet cafes and local gaming organizations like TNC and Mineski. Filipino players and teams have repeatedly made history through representing the country in many titles. DoTA 2, Counter Strike, Crossfire and Tekken were the initial titles in which Filipino teams and players made their first waves. It was not until 2016 that a Filipino team attained a major win, defeating a DoTA 2 world champion in OG, that the Philippines began to make its name in the space. The hype around esports was sustained as the Philippines made a name for itself in mobile gaming. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH), the premier professional esports league for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, was established in 2018 by the developer. Since its inception, MPL PH’s teams have dominated the MLBB World Championships, with by MPL PH team holding the title since 2020.
As the esports scene in the Philippines has grown thanks to substantial grassroots support, officials have recognized this effort and passed legislation to support the community. During his stint as the Philippines South East Asian Games Organizing Committee (PhilSGOC) Chairman Emeritus, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano spearheaded the designation of esports as a medal event as the Philippines hosted the 30th South East Asian Games. Senator Bam Aquino helped numerous Filipino teams and players, including the 2016 DoTA 2 TNC lineup, attain their required visas and established the Philippine Esports Association (PESPA), the governing body for Esports in the Philippines. The Philippine Esports Organization (PEsO) would soon replace the body. PEsO initiated the first national esports program with the National Grassroots Program, which was first started in 2022, where PEsO sponsors and organizes national competitions across several games to give a chance for novice teams to represent the country and showcase their talent.
Despite the support from a select few politicians, esports infrastructure development has been lagging behind many of the Philippines international counterparts. PEsO’s website has ceased posting new articles, with the latest from 2024, limiting information about PEsO and its activities to social media posts. Many collegiate esports programs are privately organized and funded, with some collegiate athletics associations only adapting to esports within the last three years. The Alliance Games are the first esports collegiate games in the Philippines, organized and founded by esports organization AcadArena in 2022. University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletics Association, the Philippines’ foremost collegiate associations, followed close behind as they adopted esports in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Currently, there are no government-initiated collegiate esports games.
Filipino teams and players, time and time again, have represented the Philippines on the international stage across multiple esports and have exceeded expectations repeatedly. Filipino esports athletes’ willingness to fight on and represent the red, white, and blue despite lacking support shows the patriotism in these players. It is only right that the government recognize these efforts and pool more resources to the same degree as the government does for our traditional athletes. If our players can contend for major events without support, what more if they have the backing for it?