Esports just got a new breath of life as the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) had announced that they will officially recognize high-level players as legal athletes of the country under the existing laws.
In a report coming from ESPN, Games and Amusements Board chairman Abraham Kahlil B. Mithra has granted full athletic licenses to Philippine DotA 2 groups TNC Pro Team and Execration, who will both compete in this year’s The International 7 in Seattle, Washington. With the license, both teams were able to secure their visas on time and are now on their way to the tournament.
This was also the reason behind the rather victorious page update from the TNC team a few days back.
Twitch PH partnership head Julius Mariano hopes that this would help them ease out the hurdles along the way. “Hopefully, this will hasten the process and remove the stress and uncertainty of visa applications.” Mariano was a part of the group that ironed out the issues with Pro ESports players and set up discussions between them and GAB.
As they are now recognized and licensed athletes for a short-term period, they are bound to follow the Presidential Decree no. 871 which is currently the standard for all athletes in the country. GAB hopes that this would be the start of something more beneficial for ESports players as they become more recognized in their professional field of sport. “Eventually, in the very near future, we’ll have more specific, responsive, in-depth, and relevant supervision and regulation for ESports. We will engage the industry itself to help us with this,” said GAB chief legal counsel Atty. Ermar U. Benitez.
Their post’s comment section is highly carcinogenic. Even before the LP were demonized, Sen. Bam (I assume he’s the only one) actively pushes for ESports to be recognized officially. Idk what’s the fuss with them thanking him.