Coca-Cola Philippines reaffirms commitment to women's football in the Philippines

c/o Philippine Football Federation

Coca-Cola Philippines remains committed in its support for women's football in the Philippines.

Having served as a sponsor for the last edition of the PFF Women's League, the firm will serve as the title sponsor for the PFF Women's Cup, a six-team tournament which includes some of the best players in the country, and is considered as a pathway for eventual participation into the PFF Women's League, which is set to take place in 2025.

In re-establishing their partnership, Coca-Cola Philippines Vice President for Philippines Franchise Operations Pablo Medina Noriega says, "At Coca-Cola Philippines, we believe in the power of diversity and are passionate about empowering women to reach their fullest potential. Our partnership with the Philippine Football Federation Women’s Cup reflects our commitment to creating opportunities for growth and success. We believe in creating a future where everyone can thrive, free from bias and inequality."

He adds, "Coca-Cola has always been a strong supporter of women's sports. And in this case, we are very passionate about nurturing the future of sports by supporting the football clubs composed of young female athletes."

On the federation's end, President John Gutierrez shares, "We are really excited for this year’s women’s cup. We’ve got a number of the top women’s teams playing in the league, which is something we should all look forward to."

He also emphasizes, "Now is the time for our women football athletes to showcase their skills, and inspire the new generation of aspiring football players. As we have already seen with the Filipinas, the Philippines is capable of producing world-class talents, and we hope that the league could also bring forward locally developed players to represent the country in the future."

Attending the official unveiling of this renewal of partnership are officials from both parties, with the PFF's contingent comprised of General Secretary Angelico Mercader, National Teams Director Freddy Gonzalez, Competitions Committee Chair Lovely Tababa. Also present are members of the participating teams, which includes recent Senior Women's National Team call-ups.

League stalwarts Kaya FC leads the cast, as well as Tuloy FC, joined by two teams who made major offseason build-ups in Manila Digger FC and Stallion Laguna FC. Completing the cast are Beach Hut FC and UMak-Azzurri SC.

For this iteration of the PFF Women's Cup, a single round-robin will take place, with the top four teams advancing into the semifinals, with the winners facing off for the title and losers into the third place game.

Action has already commenced last October 13, with a couple of playdates already concluded: Manila Digger defeating Stallion, 2-1, and Beach Hut dispatching Azzurri, 5-1. It was then followed by a doubleheader on October 18, with Kaya FC winning over Tuloy FC, 6-3 and Stallion issuing a 9-0 shutout over Beach Hut.

Gonzalez notes about the importance of this competition, "We have a lot of the players who were part of the last World Cup squad coming back to the country and playing for the local clubs. It’s really important to get regular games week in week out so that they can be ready when they represent the Filipinas in international competitions."

Kaya FC defender and Philippines international Hali Long agrees, "It's really important to have leagues like this to push football here and to see the sport grow."

Mercader highlights that the Women's Cup is part of the PFF's plans. "It's going to be exciting because there are a lot of tournaments and games for women's football. This coming November, we have the AFF ASEAN Women's Futsal Championship which will kick off our campaign for the FIFA Women's Futsal World Cup which we will host in November 2025."

Tababa concludes, "We hope to work together as a community where we create more opportunities for our Filipino football athletes and for others to support these endeavors."

Coca-Cola Philippines to serve as PFF Women's League sponsor

Members of the FEU Women's Football Team being provided Coca-Cola during the viewing party

With the backdrop of the historic achievement of the Philippines' Senior Women's National Football Team, Coca-Cola Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to the sport by becoming a major sponsor of the PFF Women's League. 

The revelation was made during the viewing party for the FIFA Women's World Cup match between the Philippines and New Zealand, which was co-presented by Coca-Cola, as well as by the Philippine Football Federation and the New Zealand embassy. The event took place at the UP Town Center in Quezon City, an opportunity for those who want to express their full and unwavering support towards the Filipinas, which secured a historic 1-0 victory over the tournament co-hosts.

Coca-Cola Philippines President Tony del Rosario shares, "We congratulate Team Filipinas for bringing honor to the country. We are proud to have brought sports fans together to witness the country’s first-ever goal and first-ever win in the World Cup. Coca-Cola has been a proud supporter of the Women’s World Cup™ since the inaugural tournament in 1991, and through our “Believing is Magic” campaign, we are happy to create excitement and moments of Real Magic for people in the Philippines and around the world as we refresh the shared experience of the tournament. The FIFA Women’s World Cup™ represents a positive change in society, embodying the belief that anything is possible."

From the perspective of the PFF, president Mariano Araneta, Jr. says, "We are delighted that Coca-Cola Philippines has partnered with PFF to support women’s football by agreeing to be a major sponsor of the PFF Women’s League. It is great to have a brand like Coca-Cola support women’s football, especially with the Filipinas creating history in their maiden participation in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. We hope that this partnership can foster the development of up-and-coming women’s players."

The Women's League is currently ongoing and features ten teams. Collegiate powerhouse De La Salle University has won the previous three iterations, with the matches taking place at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite. This current season is the first one to take place post-pandemic.

Coca-Cola forms partnership for Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 Patriots' Cup

Chooks-to-Go x Coke: Chooks 3x3 league owner Ronald Mascarinas with Coca-Cola Philippines' Ken Lumbao (Modern Trade Manager), Neil Dizon (On-premise Senior Executive), Gabriel Balboa (Modern Trade Specialist) and Jana Tabuzo (Modern Trade Marketing)

The quest for the Philippines to be in play for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics got a boost on Monday with the announced partnership of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. and Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc.

The upcoming Patriots' Cup is now officially called the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriots' Cup, presented by Coca-Cola.

According to Coca-Cola Philippines Modern Trade Manager Ken Marvin Lumbao, "Coca-Cola and Chooks-to-Go share the mission which is to do whatever we can to help the country reach the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in whatever way we can. And from what we have seen during the President's Cup (first conference), Chooks-to-Go has been the one racking up points for the country. We want to help them out in this endeavor."

Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 owner and BAVI head honcho Ronald Mascariñas is delighted with this news, notes that "This is indeed a great development not only for us but also for our local 3x3 basketball scene. With this partnership, we will continue to push for more top-level 3x3 events in the country leading up to the November 1 deadline of FIBA for the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments."

Coca-Cola is no stranger to helping out in 3x3 basketball, as it is a staunch backer of Mongolia's program that helped establish it as one of the best in the region.

Currently the host of the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, the sparsely-populated country is currently ranked third in the world with its 9,405,105 points. In contrast, the Philippines is currently ranked 28th with 2,088,477 points.

Lumbao adds, "Besides being a football country, Mongolia is a force in the 3x3 basketball scene as they are definitely shoo-ins for the Olympics. Our company knows that the Philippines is a 3x3 powerhouse waiting to be unraveled. And with Chooks-to-Go, we will work hand in hand to make it to the top 24 and join an OQT."

The 2019 Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 Patriots' Cup presented by Coca-Cola brings together twelve teams across five legs. Each team will have a foreign guest player to reinforce their respective squads.

The Level 7 tournament kicks off play on June 16 at the SM Seaside City in Cebu, with subsequent legs at SM Fairview (June 22), SM Muntinlupa (July 6), and SM Megamall (July 13). The final leg serves as the Grand Finals and will take place on July 27 at SM Megamall. ESPN5 will all games LIVE.

The first conference of the Chooks Pilipinas 3x3, the President's Cup, saw Pasig Grindhouse dominate and take the PhP 1,000,000 purse and a ticket to the 2019 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters. Pasig and the President's Cup runner-up, the Bataan Risers, then participated in the first-ever FIBA 3x3 Super Quest, which had a prize pool of $50,000, a couple of spots at the aforementioned Doha Masters, a spot at the Penang Challenger leg of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour, and a couple of spots in the Kunshan Challenger leg of said tour.

The establishment of the President's Cup allowed the country to ascend the FIBA 3x3 rankings, moving it into 30th place as of April.