Esports part of Filipino DNA, says international exec

MANILA, Philippines – Last November, the International Esports Federation (IESF) announced the launch of the National Federation of the Year Award, which recognizes the effort, dedication, passion and embodiment of the federation's values by its members, which spans 140 countries across six continents.

Further shortlisting the nominees to those who won a medal in this year's World Esports Championship, it boiled down to 19 countries which the federation's different committees had to rank based on different criteria: participation in IESF-sanctioned events and competitions; response time to requirements and communication with IESF and relevant stakeholders; communication with athletes and meeting their needs and requirements; structure of the federation and growth; digital presence on social media and streaming platforms; results from IESF-sanctioned events and competitions; reporting and communicating events and future plans to IESF; consistency in executing numerous activities throughout the year.

Across three different committees, the country's esports federation, the Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO) was ranked No. 1, winning the first ever National Esports Federation of the Year Award.

Though the award had a set criteria, IESF Secretary General Boban Totovski personally believes that Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, has a passion for esports that is unrivalled.

"The passion, the heart, how they play, how everyone feels about esports. It’s only here. I think, naturally, in their DNA, they are very good at it. And when you’re good at something you keep pushing to be better. I guess the [Filipino] DNA is pre-programmed for esports, especially for mobile games," Totovski told Philstar.com during Moonton Games' M Summit.

Narrating how the award was voted upon, Totovski recalled how the different committees — the Secretariat Office, Athletes’ Committee and Membership Committee — gave the most points to the Philippines.

"The [committees] didn’t talk to each other. When we combined the results, all three gave most points to Philippines for communication with athletes, how the athletes looked in their jerseys, how respectful the athletes were during the world championship, communication from the federation to IESF, if they fulfill their federation duties like membership fees, statutes, annual reports, if they are doing proper national championships, if they are doing proper marketing, etc. There were a lot of criteria that were evaluated, and number one was the Philippines, second was Indonesia, third was Saudi Arabia and fourth was Argentina," said Totovski.