Liquid ECHO's Mitch Liwanag responds to Asawa Esports accusation

Mitch Liwanag, Liquid Echo's manager, finally addressed the Asawa Esports (Spouse Esports) accusation thrown at her in Season 12 of MPL Philippines for benching Tristan “ YAWI ” Cabrera in favour of  Jaypee “ Jaypee ” Dela Cruz, her husband. 

Talking to ALL-STAR Magazine, Mitch thanked all their fans, including the negative ones, for criticising and commenting on them. All of those comments motivate the players to improve.

“Doon sa mga hindi bumitaw sa amin, thank you. Doon sa mga nagbigay ng criticisms and comments, thank you rin. I know may mga negative comments rin na naibato sa amin, I would like to thank you also because naging motivation iyon sa mga players to be better.” Which translated to:

"Thank you to those who stay with us. Thank you to those who criticised and commented on us. I know there were also negative comments thrown at us. I would also like to thank you because that motivated the players to be better.

Mitch Liwanag faced backlash when her husband, Jaypee Dela Cruz, replaced Tristan “ YAWI ” Cabrera in ECHO’s team. Despite accusations of nepotism, teammates defended the decision, citing Jaypee ’s better fit for the team’s dynamics. The couple endured severe criticism, including death threats, which took a toll on Mitch. She publicly maintained composure but privately struggled with the pressure.

^{Credit: Jaypee}

When asked about Jaypee , she said that Jaypee isn't bothered when people bash him, but he is hurt when people bash her and their three-year-old daughter.

When asked why she is staying in the esports industry when she has a million reasons not to, she responded with: 

“Ito talaga ang gusto ko. Kahit ayaw mo na, kapag nakikita mo lahat ng pinagdaanan at mga pangarap ng mga players, at gaano kaganda yung kayang ioffer na opportunities ng esports para sa kanila, iyon yung dahilan. Sure, I get exhausted, I get burned out, but there are so many reasons for me to stay! There are a lot of reasons, a million reasons, why I am still here” which roughly translated to:

"This is exactly what I want. Even if you don't want to, when you see everything the players have been through, their dreams, and the wonderful opportunities esports can offer them, that's the reason. Sure, I get exhausted and burned out, but there are so many reasons for me to stay! There are many reasons, a million reasons, why I am still here." 

ECHO was acquired by Team Liquid, becoming Team Liquid Echo . They won the MPL Phillippines Season 13 championship and are preparing for the MSC 2024, which has a 1,000,000 USD prize pool.