Bren Esports boss cleared of drug charges

MANILA, Philippines – Bren Esports chief executive Bernard "Bren" Chong has been cleared by the Court of Appeals for his alleged involvement in a botched drug smuggling case at the Manila International Container Port.

The Special 17th Division of the Court of Appeals overturned the decision of the Manila City Regional Trial Court (RTC) which named Chong as one of the accused and co-conspirators for the importation of dangerous drugs last year.

Chong filed a petition before the Appellate Court, which banked on documents showing that he was no longer connected with Fortuneyiled, which had been involved in the alleged importation of illegal drugs.

“The petition is meritorious. In the Court’s power of judicial review, it is incumbent on the Court to ease the burden of the trial court in zeroing on the real culprits so that the latter may be brought to the face the dictates of criminal justice,” Associate Justice Bonifacio Pascua stated in the order.

Associate Justices Louis Acosta and Jennifer Joy Ong concurred with the order.

Pascua ordered the dismissal of the case insofar as Chong is concerned and quashed the issued warrant of arrest against the esports executive.

Chong, who has also invested in many startup companies around the world, founded Bren Esports in 2017. Bren’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team made history as the first Philippine squad to win the M-series World Championship title three years ago.

Most recently, Bren's MLBB team fell in the MPL Philippines playoffs after emerging as the top-seed at the end of eliminations.

The allegations against Chong emerged ahead of the MPL Philippines' 11th season this year.

Now, Bren's core MLBB athletes are headed to compete in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games representing Sibol as they aim to complete a three-peat for the Philippines in the biennial meet.

Apart from MLBB, Bren Esports also has competitive teams in CS:GO, PUBG, League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, Hearthstone, Clash Royale, Arena of Valor, Rules of Survival and Tekken 7.