Four-peat seeking Kaya Iloilo and Manila Digger produced lopsided victories over the weekend to kick off their respective title bids in the start of the Philippines Football League at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Kaya dominated returning Philippine Army, 12-0, while Manila Digger crushed Valenzuela PB Mendiola, 9-2, to assert their status as among the favorites in the eighth staging of the domestic football league.

READ: Manila Digger finds itself atop PFL 

Jhan-Jhan Melliza came through with a hat trick while Shuto Komaki found the net twice to highlight Kaya’s dominance of an Army side that made its return to the top-flight competition after skipping last season.

Saikouba Ceesay delivered three goals as well for Manila Digger, aiming to bounce back after placing second to Kaya in the league table by just one point.

The four are among the 11 clubs competing in the league competition that also has Dynamic Herb Cebu, Stallion Laguna, Aguilas Umak, One Taguig, Maharlika, Tuloy FC and Don Bosco Garelli.

Like Army, Tuloy and Garelli were not part of last season’s field after taking part in the 2024 season.

Action resumes this weekend at Rizal Memorial with a Saturday tripleheader starting off with Tuloy-Maharlika at 3 p.m., Cebu-One Taguig at 5:45 p.m. and Kaya-Aguilas at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday’s twinbill has Army-Mendiola at 4 p.m. followed by Digger-Stallion at 7 p.m.