by Francis Albert Domingo
Aklan Mobile Legends community on social media expressed their dismay over the organizer of Hampang Aklan Mobile Legends League Season 1 as ML players complained about his sudden disappearance.
The alleged esports tournament scam organized by Manuel Tullo of Roxas City, Capiz was supposedly the "biggest" Mobile Legends tournament in the province, with a P2,000 registration fee per team and a P100,000 prize pool.
Renz David Condez of iTiP Gaming, an Aklan-based ML team that was set to participate in the event, said in an interview with Explained PH - Aklan that the Aklan ML community was disappointed by the recent news as they had placed their full trust in Tullo, yet not a cent was returned to them.
According to Condez, before the pandemic, Tullo already had successful esports tournaments in the province which gained the trust of ML players. However, Tullo was eventually unreachable.
“Ang hirap magtiwala for now sir kasi hindi mo alam ano mangyayari lalo na about sa pera which is ang galing niya magsalita kasi kilala mo rin siya, kuha niya tiwala mo," Condez said.
Written on a Facebook post of a netizen, the organizer has made changes regarding the event’s registration process and rules, stating that they will continue to accept teams and are planning to lower the fees.
The tournament was supposed to boast eight teams from each Aklanon municipality. Various teams had registered and almost all of them had already paid prior to the start of the tournament on Oct. 1–20.
Tullo's SLAM E-Sports Facebook page was deleted while his personnel were said to be left unpaid.
Presently, Tullo has not yet released a statement on the matter.