WINNERS of the recent Barangay Grassroots Esports League (BGEL) in Pasig City visited the Pasig City Hall for a quick meet-and-greet session with Mayor Vico Sotto and executives from Smart Communications Inc. (Smart).
A program of Smart with Omega Academy, BGEL enables local government units (LGUs), particularly youth organizations within the LGU, to connect with their constituents through esports.
“We competed against great players during the league, but we received so much support from our barangay, especially from the Sangguniang Kabataan of Santolan,” said Tatin Manalo of Santolan’s Pride, the champions of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament. “Because of that, we had no other objective than to win this battle and make our barangay proud.”
For Diego Aguilar, who emerged as the Most Valuable Player from the Call of Duty Mobile (CODM) event, he joined the tournament to gain more experience and hopefully become a professional player.
“It feels great to win the CODM BGEL tournament. We didn’t have a coach or any practice, but we managed to win,” Aguilar said.
For Lawrence Remolin, the tournament was a way to help his family financially.
“For me, I wanted to see how much I’ve improved as a CODM player, plus I really wanted to win the cash prize to help our family pay the bills,” Remolin said.
BGEL is also supported by the Pasig Youth Development Council, with the guidance of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Esports Organization.
Omega Academy is the developmental department of Smart Omega which aims to find and develop young talents in the Filipino esports industry. It is the Smart-supported professional esports team which competes in The Nationals.
“We are grateful for the support of the leadership of Pasig City for this event. The Barangay Grassroots Esports League is our way to help communities empower the youth with competitive activities during the pandemic,” said Jude Turcuato, First Vice President and Head of Sports at PLDT and Smart.