Earlier this afternoon, April 13, 2015, Senator Benigno Paolo “Bam” Aquino held a meeting with Philippine Dota 2 team Rave, who were recently embroiled in a controversy involving the Philippine Overseas Employment Association (POEA) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after  three of its members were forced off a plane on a trip to Korea.

In an interview with eSports Inquirer, Sen. Aquino stated that in the case of Rave, government bureaus should strengthen their coordination to ensure that irregularities in documentation do not hinder the riding public.

He said that the status of the team as cyber athletes were not immediately clear to officers of immigration.

“Their status of being employed or not was not clear to the POEA at the airport. To be frank, if they have a little more time, Rave would be able to clarify that. Unfortunately, when their attention was needed as the plane was about to take off. So what we are trying to do is make sure next time, they know the status of their paperwork as they leave the country,” he said.

When asked if this will only apply to Rave or other aspiring teams, Aquino said that the challenge with the current crop of games is that they are not recognized by agents of the government.

“The problem of other teams is that they don’t really know where to go. No one recognizes them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a private association or the National Sports Commission to put some recognition to what they do. With the current eSports organizations, we would like to give what assistance we can provide,” Aquino explained.

The senator also pointed out eSports’ place in Philippine culture, stating that its niche status in the country needs to grow in order to overcome other obstacles for aspiring professional gamers.

“In the Philippines, eSports needs to grow more. Admittedly it’s still a fringe interest, not mainstream. The more it becomes a mainstream activity like in Korea or the United States, where the eSports industry and the support to their players is really huge, the better,” Aquino said.

“We are always lagging behind, so I think as the industry grows, being a pro player would be more fruitful.”

Pursuing legal options

Meanwhile, Mark “Cast” Pilar said that the option of pursuing a legal case against the BI is still on the table.

“Our lawyer told us that if BI is in the wrong, our legal action might be to request a public apology and if not, ask for compensation for the ticket.”

Cast added, however, that a reimbursement for their trip expenses would be sufficient.

The team had paid for their tickets to return home to the Philippines following the Major All Stars Tournament in Malaysia where the team finished 7th.

As a professional Dota 2 players, the team is not currently employed under a company, nor are they supported by sponsors. All of their earnings are gained from tournament results.

Cast, along with team mates Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa and Djardel “Chrissy” Mampusti, paid for two tickets: a ticket back to the Philippines from Malaysia and a round-trip ticket between the Philippines and Korea.

In total, the team lost over P40,000 per person because of the mishap. Because the three Rave members were unable to return to Korea, they eventually lost their other tournament qualifiers (Electronic Sports League and RedBull Battle Grounds) due to being forced to play under extreme latency conditions here in the Philippines

“For me, as long as we get to use the money we paid our ticket for, it’s alright,” Cast said.

For now, Cast and the rest of Rave are focused on getting back to Korea. The team will be returning to the US embassy on April 17 to secure visas for an upcoming tournament: The Summit 3 on May 15 to 17 at the Beyond The Summit studio in Los Angeles, California.

In a statement posted on their Facebook page by Atty. Mary Ann Ojeda-Isidro, former Immigration officer and legal counsel to Rave, she explained that the incident originated from immigration officers misunderstanding the use of guidelines issued by the Inter Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

“Marc, Djardel and Ryo were issued an E-6-3 Korean visa (a visa for other artistic pursuits like eSports) where the only requirement is an invitation letter from the Ministry of Culture, unlike the E-6-1 and E-6-2 visas which require a work contract or an employer to sponsor the visa.”

The officers considered the Rave members OFWs, thus the misunderstanding. However:

“This is not the case for Team Rave. They have no employer that hired them or that is controlling the manner they do their gaming and they have no salaries, just prize money. Their gaming house where they are staying is being rented by all of them equally and paid for out of their own pockets and from their prize money if they win tourneys. They pay for their food and all expenses for their travels.”

As of this writing, there is currently no new response from BI or POEA regarding the situation, save for an official statement released last weekend.

Photos taken by: Juan Carlo “Jucasa” Saquin (Graphics Content Editor, Jucasa PhotoX, Jucasa Pilipinas)

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