Last June, Toyota Motor Philippines had a nationwide call for aspiring e-racers who wished to compete in the first ever e-motosports program, the GR Supra GT Cup Asia-Philippines, with the goal of finding the country’s top e-sports racers. The competition was then played online on the PlayStation 4 game Gran Turismo Sport where the players virtually raced against one another in the Toyota GR Supra. The top players among the hundreds of participants ultimately represented the Philippines against counterparts from fellow Asian nations in the Asian Regional Round. Held recently on October 25 and hosted by Toyota Motor Asia Pacific and Toyota Gazoo Racing, these countries and their respective player representatives went head-to-head, with the eventual top player having the honors of representing the entire Asian continent in the international scene at the Toyota GR Supra GT Cup Global Finals later in the year.
However, during the event livestream itself of the Asian Regional Round, viewers were quick to point out an issue regarding the flags next to the Filipino players’ names in which they were supposedly representing during the game proper, consequently leading to confusion, questioning and controversy.
So, who were the top players locally that eventually represented the Philippines? Terence Lallave, a 35-year-old businessman, who qualified through the Sporting Class category; Johann Lance Padilla, a 24-year-old from Bacoor City, who qualified through the Promotional Class category; and Jose Luis Altoveros, a 25-year-old writer and photographer, who qualified through the Media and Celebrity category.
During the Asian Regional Round, these 3 players went up against other players from neighboring countries India, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Finishing at the top of the podium was Ar Muhammad Aleef from Singapore who finished first overall with 36 points and winning the grand prize of $6,000 and, of course, getting the opportunity to represent Asia on the international stage. Coming in second is Taj Aiman from Malaysia and coming in third is Nathayos Sirigaya of Thailand.
Among the 3 Philippine representatives, Terence Lallave finished the highest at 5th place, while Jose Luis Altoveros and Johann Lance Padilla finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
This then leads to the question: what issue was it exactly that the viewers were quick to point out that eventually led to them being alarmed? The event, which was livestreamed via Facebook on the Toyota Motor Philippines’ page, was where viewers noticed and voiced out in the comments section that all 3 Filipino representatives had the Hong Kong flags next to their names instead of the Philippine flag. Meanwhile, all other players present from the aforementioned countries were able to represent their own flags, which raised more eyebrows as to why it was only the Philippines who encountered this. Moreover, another question that was brought up relatively frequently was as to why it was the Hong Kong flag specifically and not any other country. Unfortunately, these questions only brought about more confusion, but no answers nor clarification.
Upon inspection of the countries/regions available on the game itself, the Philippines is not one of the options. The issue was discussed with the local racers, who also acknolwdged that the situation was beyond the participants’ and organizers’ control, especially given the limited time frame. Given this situation, the Filipino representatives were given no choice since their home country was not available in-game. As of now, none of the parties have released official statements relating to the incident. But on a positive note, the event brought together all Filipino gamers in a nationalistic show of force and proved that the country has a world-class gaming community and is an force to be reckoned with on an international scale.
