Sibol to Represent the Philippines in Esports at SEA Games 2019
Esports, for the first time in history, will be a medal event in the upcoming 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Carrying our flag in this discipline will be Sibol, the Philippine national team for esports.
Sibol, which is the Filipino word for “growth,” is an apt name for our national team as it signifies
not only the rise of esports around the world but also the advancement of esports talent in the
Philippines.
Flaunting our national colors, the Sibol logo is an amalgam of the leaf and the flame. The leaf
symbolizes new beginnings while the flame represents the passion of the Filipino gamer. Theshapes in the flame also subtly spell out the country’s acronym, PHI.
Sibol will be competing in all six titles featured in the esports event of the 30th SEA Games,
which include Dota 2, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang,
and Tekken 7.
Sibol’s quest for gold at the Games starts with assembling the national team. To start off,
several outstanding Filipino esports athletes will be directly invited into the team’s training pool.
The roster of directly invited players include:
Dota 2
• Carlo “Kuku” Palad
• Timothy John “Tims” Randrup
• Kim “Gabbi” Santos
• Armel “Armel” Tabios
• Nico “Eyyou” Barcelon
• Djardel “DJ” Mampusti
• Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto
• Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop
• Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr.
• Ryan Jay “Bimbo” Qui
StarCraft II
• Caviar “Enderr” Acampado
Arena of Valor
• Kevin Kio “Gambit” Dizon
• Jeremiah “1717” Camarillo
• Jevan Lorenzo “Alphacat” Delos Santos
• Lawrence Anthony “Rubixx” Gatmaitan
• Miguel Klarenz “Miggie” Banaag
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Carlito “Ribo” Ribo
• Erwin “Yakou” Magno
• Jeniel “Haze” Bata-Anon
• Marc Danielle “Dee” San Luis
• Yuji “Yuji” Aizawa
• Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel
• Renz Carlo “Pein” Reyes
• Lester “Tets” Santos
• Ralph Mico “Coco” Sampang
• Mark “Dysania” Cruz
• Ephraim Jueinno “Ejhay” Sambrano
• Gerardo “Eson” Mark Jayson
• Jeff Franklin “Jeffqt4ever” Anaya
• Allan Sancio “Lusty” Castromayor
• Jason Rafael “Jay” Torculas
• Ashleymarco “Killuash” Cruz
• Kyle “Ryo” Berceño
Tekken 7
• Andreij Hosea “Doujin” Albar
• Alexandre Gabrielle “AK” Laverez
Hearthstone
• Jacinta “Jia” Dee
• Euneil “Staz” Javiñas
Joining them in the Sibol training pool are individuals who will prove victorious in the upcoming open qualifiers. Any Filipino citizen over the age of 13 can join the said qualifier. This will happen on August, and more details are going to be announced soon.
Once the Sibol training pool is complete, each player will be evaluated based on their mastery
of their respective esport title as well as their compatibility with the rest of the team, among
other factors.
Managers and coaches will be assigned per game, and they will be a part of the selection
committee in charge of trimming the pool down to the final Sibol team that will compete in the
SEA Games.
The final Sibol roster for the SEA Games will be composed of seven players each for team
games (Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valor), and two representatives for the
individual games (Tekken 7, Hearthstone, StarCraft II).
In charge of creating and managing Sibol will be the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Esports Union (PSEU), a group under the Philippine Olympic Committee. PSEU was established for the sole purpose of organizing the esports event at the 30th Southeast Asian Games as well as the Philippine team and delegation.
PSEU is the product of the partnership between the Esports National Association of the Philippines(ESNAP) and the Nationals Esports Federation of the Philippines (NESFP). The team is determined to make Sibol a representation of the country’s best gamers, in line with our target of winning gold in the Games. The 30th SEA Games will be held in the Philippines from November 30 to December 11, 2019.
Eleven countries will be participating in the games, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam. The esports competition is scheduled from December 5 to 10, 2019 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan Metro Manila.
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