IT finally happened.
Philippine women’s volleyball officially gained its first millionaire player after Myla Pablo inked a P4.6 million contract with Shakey’s V-League squad Pocari Sweat.
The 5’9” former National University open spiker committed to the Lady Warriors for five years. She also received a brand-new Hyundai Accent as a signing bonus.
This changes everything not just for volleyball but for women’s sport in the Philippines.
Filipinas can now pursue careers as professional athletes much like their male counterparts in the Philippine Basketball Association and the United Football League as well as the Azkals in the Philippine national team.
Pablo, 23 is a product of National University where she took up Marketing Management.
Pablo, playing for the NU Lady Bulldogs, was named Best Spiker in the UAAP Season 75. She was also chosen Best Spiker in the 2013 Shakeys V-League Season 10 when the NU Lady Bulldogs won the league championship for the first time.
She later won Finals Most Valuable Player during the 2015 Shakeys V-League Collegiate Conference Season 12 when the NU Lady Bulldogs also became champions.
She repeated as the Finals Most Valuable Player and earned second Best Open Spiker honors during the 2016 Shakeys V-League Open Conference Season 13 playing for Pocari Sweat.
Shakey’s V-League rival Philippine Superliga has signed other players to similar contracts but only for one-year at most. Rachel Anne Daquis and Jaja Santiago reportedly got P80,000 a month from RC Cola and Foton.
Volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez was supposed to have gotten a P100,000 a month from Bureau of Customs.
But said contracts were not long-term.
While the Shakey’s V-League admittedly started everything which led to the booming popularity of women’s volleyball the subsequent birth of the PSL and the rivalry between the two leagues have led to the pay bonanza now enjoyed by the women volleyball superstars.
It remains to be seen whether the rivalry between the Shakey’s V-League and the PSL will ultimately do more harm than good to Philippine volleyball.
In the short term at least, players like Myla Pablo, who will be getting lucrative contracts, are reaping the benefits of that rivalry.