PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Ignatius Michael Ingles, The Law Firm of Ingles Laurel Calderon
dures for disciplinary proceedings against their athletes. The rules and guidelines governing these internal procedures are often difficult to secure, even by the athletes facing disciplinary sanctions themselves. However, as a minimum requirement by law, due process must be afford - ed to the athlete in the form of a written notice and the chance to be heard. Unfortunately, there have been cases where an athlete has been penalised even without the benefit of a notice and a chance to be heard. 2. Commercial Rights 2.1 Available Sports-Related Rights Notable sports-related commercial rights include the usual rights under the Intellectual Property Code ( “the Code” ) such as trade mark and copy - right. On the tax side, athletes have a right to tax exemption for any prizes and awards they win in local and international sports tournaments sanc - tioned by their respective sports organisations. National athletes are also granted commercial benefits in the form of 20% discounts on pur - chases of food, sports equipment and medicine. This 20% discount extends to lodging and trans - portation expenses. Rights-holders and event organisers have com - mercial rights over merchandising and ticketing profits as well. To protect rights-holders from the proliferation of counterfeit merchandise and the unauthorised use of marks, the Code and local ordinances provide remedies ranging from crimi - nal conviction to immediate forfeiture of goods. While there is no national law that deals with and punishes ticket touts and scalping, cities that normally host sports events have their own local ordinances that criminalise ticket touting and scalping. These ordinances were used to
great effect during the FIBA 2023 Basketball World Cup to combat the illegal sale of tickets. 2.2 Sponsorship One major way sponsors use sports is to own a team in a professional league, such as the Phil - ippine Basketball Association (the “PBA” ) and the Premier Volleyball League (the “PVL” ), which adopt a franchise system. For example, teams in the PBA include the Rain or Shine Elastopaint - ers, named after a brand of paint, and the Baran - gay Ginebra San Miguel, named after a brand of gin. In the PVL, there are teams named after a chocolate snack, Choco Mucho Flying Titans, and after a media company, Cignal HD Spikers. Brands, therefore, get exposure through team names, logo exposure in arenas and logo place - ment on jerseys. Companies that own teams in professional leagues and those that do not, use athletes as models for their print advert materials and as influencers. For example, former professional basketball player Chris Tiu has posed for skin - care adverts and current professional player Kiefer Ravena is the brand ambassador of the Jordan brand in Asia. Professional athletes such as Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado de Guzman and national athletes like Junna Tsukii, Max - ine Esteban and Sandro Reyes are examples of influencers who use Instagram to promote brands they partner with. Professional and collegiate athletes in the Philip - pines are treated as celebrities. Therefore, prod - uct launches, store openings and other launches will have athletes on their guest lists. Sports rights-holders attract sponsor invest - ments through airtime adverts during live events, in-arena bannering and advertising, logo place - ments in pre-game and game uniforms and
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