TONY Boy Liao may not be a name many have heard of until two days ago, when a seismic shift in the leadership of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation led to his stunning rise to the presidency.
Liao became the successor to the controversial past president Ramon "Tats" Suzara, who found himself in the middle of controversy as architect of the FIVB Men's World Volleyball Championship that came under fire for its sky-high ticket prices and big budget.
Suzara and his camp tried to stay on n power. But the the voters wanted transparency, honesty and board engagement. When the dust settled, it was Liao, a bespectacled, chubby and friendly character who emerged new president.
READ Tats Suzara out of PNVF as PVL's Tony Boy Liao elected new president
For many, the 68-year-old Liao might not ring a bell, but the man has been in volleyball for decades, engineering some fo the most successful collegiate programs, establishing the first inter-collegiate championships and was part of the team that set up the Philippine Volleyball League which made volleyball the most popular and watchable league in the country.
In short, he he has been a defining force in Philippine volleyball.
Here's why:
If you’ve cheered for a UAAP powerhouse, followed the PVL or supported the national team, chances are you’ve seen the imprint of his work even if you never knew his name.
His rise in local sports leadership began with one of Philippine volleyball’s most cherished achievements: the 1993 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, where the women’s national team captured gold.
READ: What went down in five-hour PNVF vote ending in Suzara's ouster
Liao was one of the key figures behind a historic run that produced the country’s last SEA Games volleyball gold 32 years on.
By the early 2000s, he had already stepped onto the international stage as chairman of the Asian Beach Volleyball Council, helping elevate the sport across the continent and giving Filipino athletes greater visibility in what was then an overlooked discipline.
He later brought that same touch to collegiate volleyball.
Liao served as team manager for two of the most dominant programs of the modern era: the De La Salle Lady Spikers and the Ateneo Lady Eagles, working closely with longtime sports executive Ricky Palou. Both programs would become perennial UAAP contenders and champion teams.
His influence expanded when he entered the club volleyball scene.
As commissioner of the Shakey’s V-League, Liao helped steer the league through its formative years before its transformation into the PVL in 2017.
There, he worked alongside Sports Vision’s leadership group comprised of Palou, former Asian Basketball Confederation (now Fiba Asia) secretary-general Moying Martelino, the late PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino, and former Qatar Basketball Federation supervisor Rhea Navarro in shaping both the PVL and the Spikers’ Turf as the country's flagship volleyball leagues that these are today.
Even while based in the United States for a time during the pandemic, Liao stayed fully connected to the sport.
In 2021, he was elected chairman of the National Team Department of the newly-formed Philippine National Volleyball Federation, Inc. (PNVFI), overseeing program structures, coaching selections, and national-team rosters.
He also served as a PNVF board member under Suzara from 2021 to 2024.
That role later shifted to Palou in 2024, setting the stage for an eventual leadership transition inside the federation — one that would only materialize after a long, complicated process with Suzara still in power.
All of it came to a head in November’s special general assembly, where Liao was unanimously elected as the next PNVF president from 2025 to 2029, replacing a previous leadership that was marred by controversy and distrust.
It was a culmination of decades spent shaping teams, leagues, and national programs from the ground up.
Today, Liao is a key figure in Spikers’ Turf, the country’s premier semi-professional men’s volleyball league, continuing a legacy that bridges grassroots, collegiate, club, and national volleyball.
From SEA Games gold to champion collegiate dynasties, from pioneering club leagues to restructuring the national program, Liao’s fingerprints are everywhere and is among the many quiet architects behind Philippine volleyball’s dramatic rise.
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