Inaugural ‘E-Palarong Pambansa’ kicks off to empower Filipino e-sports athletes
Filipinos are huge gamers. With gamers in the Philippines ranging from 16 to 64 years old, they make up one of the largest gaming markets in the world. The population includes Filipino celebrities like Alden Richards and Alodia Gosiengfiao who contribute to esports’ popularity. According to ILO E-Sports CEO Jamar Montehermoso, celebrity gamers create awareness and spark interest even among those who are not into e-sports.
In case you missed it, e-sports is an evolution of sporting entertainment and it has a growing market in the country. E-sports has been a global phenomenon with more than hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. The sector has a global valuation of more than US$300M.
In an attempt to support and uplift local e-sports athletes, the E-Palarong Pambansa was launched yesterday in a media conference. The e-sports event is patterned after the annual national sports tournament Palarong Pambansa. It is a national level multi-e-sports tournament circuit involving e-sports athletes and teams representing cities and municipalities in the Philippines.
The key people in-charge are Rolly Pagaspas, Head of Partnerships, E-Palarong Pambansa; Timothy Tia – Operations Manager, Silicon Valley Gaming Association; Andy Koh – CEO, GEMS; Jamar Montehermoso, CEO, ILO E-Sports / Founding Head, E-Palarong Pambansa; JM Magalona – Sales Executive (MICE), Injap Tower Group; Remar John Bayona, Head of Broadcast, E-Palarong Pambansa and Brian Ong – Head of PR, Hotel 101 Group.
The E-Palarong Pambansa aims to reach at least 500,000 Filipino youth and involve them by 2025, promoting values of discipline, teamwork, and competitive excellence. It also targets to establish a sustainable and inclusive e-sports ecosystem in at least 1,000 cities and municipalitoe outside of NCR by 2025. The sporting event is sincere in its mission to address the lack of opportunites for talents in the grassroots level and the limited access to e-sports tournaments and competitions. The organizing team aims to provide grassroots e-sports fans to a national tournament where they have the opportunity to showcase their talents and skills.
Through E-Palarong Pambansa, the team envisions empowering the next generation of esports champions nationwide by establishing sustainable and competitive esports ecosystems.
The E-Palarong Pambansa Founding Head and ILO Sports CEO Jamar Montehermoso said, “There is a lot to gain – exposure, recognition, opportunity to develop skills and talents, and potential career opportunities.” Ever heard of the running joke, “Kaka-computer mo ‘yan!” where stereotypical Filipino parents blame gaming for anything? Montehermoso and his team would like to counter that and change the negative image of gaming and e-sports in the country by highlighting its benefits and the opportunities awaiting skilled e-sports athletes.
The E-Palarong Pambansa will feature a total of five games – two PC games, Valorant and League of Legends PC and three mobile games, Mobile Legends, Call of Duty Mobile, and League of Legends Wildrift. The event will run from April until August.
Here’s the timeline –
April and May: Announce the launch of the event and generate initial buzz
June: Start of qualifiers stage
July: Start of group stage
August: Start of playoffs
The Philippines will be divided into four: North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Watch out for more information as the prizes have yet to be announced. Follow E-Palarong Pambansa on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/epalaro.
