Manny Pacquiao’s Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour Unveils 12 Founding Teams
Philippine pickleball is getting a proper home-grown tour of its own. The Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour formally introduced its 12 founding teams at an event in Makati on Friday afternoon, setting the stage for a first leg that kicks off in October.
The inaugural roster draws from communities across the country rather than a handful of major cities, with squads representing General Santos City, Tacloban, Batangas, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, Rizal, Alfonso Cavite, Camarines Norte, Pampanga, Bacoor, Bangued, and Abra.
Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour founder and chairman Manny Pacquiao framed the league as a platform built specifically for Filipino pickleball players to be seen, describing the day as a chance to welcome the teams that will make up the tour’s founding history. He said the 12 squads represent different communities united by one goal—growing the sport nationwide—and pitched the league as something bigger than a tournament, positioning it as a vehicle for developing athletes and building a lasting legacy for pickleball in the country.
League commissioner Mark Espinosa echoed that ambition, calling the launch the start of a new chapter for Philippine pickleball. He said the tour’s aim is to give every team and athlete a professionally run competition grounded in integrity, excellence, and fair play, and that the league intends to deliver something worthy of the commitment its founding members have already shown.
The tour’s first leg lands on 3-4 October in Angeles, Pampanga, kicking off a five-leg season that runs through the rest of the year. Two more legs follow in November before the tour wraps with a final phase in December, when the top eight of the 12 founding teams will advance to compete for the inaugural title.
With a nationwide footprint built into its very roster, the Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour is betting that pickleball’s next wave of growth in the Philippines won’t come from Manila alone, but from Abra to General Santos and everywhere in between.
