[3] Andres Soriano of the San Miguel Corporation brought Cutillas along with Francisco Escalante, Enrique de la Mata Calvo, and Claudio Sanchez as a Spanish contingent to compete in local commercial leagues in the Philippines in 1961.
Cutillas left the country in 1965[4] for Spain to finish his medical studies and earn his physical training diploma[5] but later returned to the Philippines in 1967.
[6] Among his results with the national team on his first stint was a 2–1 win over American club Dallas Tornado at home in 1968 with practically the same squad that played in the 0–15 record loss to Japan in the Asian Olympic qualifiers.
The national team's poor performance at the 1974 Asian Games led to the Philippine Football Association opting to reappoint Cutillas.
[5] In 1985, during the onset of the People Power Revolution, Cutillas briefly left the Philippines for Australia where he coached a handful of Australian professional football teams.