House bill seeks to declare October as National Esports Month

MANILA, Philippines — A bill submitted in Congress last August hopes to battle the negative image plaguing esports.

House Bill 01285 or An Act Declaring the Month of October of every year as "National Esports Month" and for other purposes will be a month-long celebration of esports, as well as an information drive to raise awareness on the growing industry.

The bill was filed by Representative Christopher de Venecia of the 4th District of Pangasinan. In the previous Congress, de Venecia filed a resolution to look into the state of esports and its possible classification as a creative industry.

"Sinubukan namin intindihin kung yung esport ba is a creative industry, apart from being a legitimate sport like dancesport is both a sport and also a creative industry, as part of the performing arts. Na-realize natin dun sa hearing natin last Congress na esports pala is really a nexus for a lot of different creative industries." explained de Venecia.

The previous hearings revealed an issue that the esports industry is still facing today: how esports is still seen under a negative light, sometimes being classified with gambling and other bad habits that lead the youth astray.

"Nag file tayo ng bill in this Congress to declare October as National Esports Month. October 23 is World Esports Day. So we're not just going to be celebrating a day but a whole month here in the Philippines. Gusto natin macombat yung stigma. What the bill will do, if its enacted into law, is it will enjoin DepEd, CHED, PSC, the National Academy of Sports, and the Philippine Information Agency to do an Information campaign and to also work with the Private Sector, like PeSO, and all the different stakeholders para we can really mainstream and do a national celebration of the National Esports Month during October." added de Venecia.

For Rep. Faustino Michael Carlos T. Dy III, chairperson of the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development, the negative stigma plaguing esports stems from the lack of information given, especially to the previous generation.

"I think kulang lang talaga sa information yung older generations [when it comes to esports]. I think we need to have a more rigid campaign para to inform the older generation that esport is — na hindi siya bisyo. Ito ay pwedeng maging source ng hanapbuhay, income ng iba't ibang pamilya and, pinaka-importante, yung makadala ng pride sa ating bansa pag nag represent ka sa SEA Games or sa Asian Games. Hopefully, the sport will grow more in the coming years. It's really a big industry here that we need to push and promote for the future generations," said Dy.

The country's esports governing body, Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO), is grateful for the government support as the organization continues to promote esports in the country.

"It's good that we have someone in congress that's also helping us. Kasi before, it was just purely private but now we have some guidance and assistance from the government side which we are very happy and we are very grateful for," said Joebert Yu, Secretary General of PeSO during a press conference.

Also present in the press conference was MOONTON Games Esports Senior Marketing Manage Tony Silva, who thanked both lawmakers, as well as PeSO for their support for the esports industry. He said that the Mobile Legends: Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) wouldn't be where it is today without their aid.

"Without their support, without putting the industry and our league in the spotlight, we wouldn't be here. The fact that we've made it to Congress, and that PeSO is here and are very aggressive in supporting us, shows the growth of the whole industry and of course, [the growth of] our league," shared Silva.

PeSO Executive Director praised the efforts of the local MOONTON office in ensuring the country's league is home to the best of the best when it comes to Mobile Legends. 

"On PeSo side, we really see MOONTON PH's effort to provide a really good structure for their esports title and we can see the fruits of their labor when we won the last two gold medals coming in from Mobile Legends. It goes to show the Moonton teams' footprint in developing the esports scene [of] their game. That's why PeSO is really happy [in partnering] with them to make sure that our program is up and we get more medals, hopefully because we feel that Filipino Mobile Legends [players] are the best of the best," said Marcelo.