MANILA – Western Visayas would be well represented in the restart of the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga on Oct. 11 as 18 players who traced their roots from the region will be part of the 12 teams.
Based on the lineup released by PBA, Negros Occidental has the most number of players from Region VI with 10 – mostly from Bacolod City – followed by Iloilo City with six while Antique and Aklan have one player each.
Meralco Bolts has three WV-based players namely Pontevedra-native Raymar Jose, Ilonggo Antonio Jose Caram and Bacolodnon Reynel Hugnatan. NLEX Road Warriors, meanwhile, has the Ilonggos Kiefer Ravena and Jericho Cruz, and Bago City’s Raul Soyud.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings has two in the roster in Jeffrei Chan (Bacolod City) and Joe Devance (Escalante City) while Terrafirma Dyip has Andreas Cahilig (Aklan) and John Paul Calvo (Silay City).
NorthPort Batang Pier also has two in Bacolodnon LA Revilla and Ilonggo Juan Paolo Taha while Rain or Shine Elasto Painters has two in Escalante City’s James Yap and Ilonggo Clint Doliguez.
Other WV-based players in the Philippine Cup are Blackwater Elite’s Rey Mark Belo (Antique), TNT Tropang Giga’s Kib Montalbo (Bacolod City), Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters’ Justin Chua (Bacolod City) and San Miguel Beermen’s Paul Zamar (Iloilo City)./PN
