Senator Bam Aquino wants the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to explain why they barred three Filipino cyber athletes from leaving for South Korea where they were slated to train and join several international competitions.

 

Team Rave’s Mark “Cast” Pilar, Djardel “Chrissy” Mampusti and Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa were barred from leaving due to alleged lack of proper travel documents.

 

“They have traveled several times to South Korea using the same documents they presented in the past without any hitch. Suddenly, they were barred from leaving without any valid reason,” Sen. Bam stressed.

 

“Worse, the offloading happened during a crucial time where they were scheduled to train for several big international competitions,” Sen. Bam added.

 

Sen. Bam said the offloading cost these cyber atheles a chance to join two events in Bucharest and to train for other upcoming competitions.

 

Team Rave recently placed sixth and bagged $150,000 in the recent DOTA 2 Asian Championships.

 

“Government should be able to provide an environment where our athletes, online or offline, be able to hone their skills, compete in world class competitions, and give honor and pride to our country,” Sen. Bam pointed out.

 

The office of Sen. Bam has been extending assistance to Team Rave as support for the growth of the community and development of the e-industry in the country.

 

“We will continue helping them in any way we can because we believe in their potential in bringing honor to our country,” Sen. Bam said.