MANILA – A total of 18 basketball players from Western Visayas will represent the region in the upcoming Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup as they suited up for the 12 PBA teams.
Based on the lineup released by PBA on Wednesday, Negros Occidental topped the list with the most number of players from Region 6 with 10, followed by Iloilo with six, while Antique and Aklan have one player each.
Meralco Bolts got five WV-based players in Reynel Hugnatan (Bacolod), Siverino Baclao (Bacolod), Raymar Jose (Pontevedra), Antonio Jose Caram (Iloilo), and Rey Mark Belo (Antique).
Meanwhile, Kiefer Ravena (Iloilo), Jericho Cruz (Iloilo), and Raul Soyud (Bago) joined the NLEX Road Warriors. NorthPort Batang Pier has acquired Juan Paolo Taha (Iloilo) and Clint Doliguez (Iloilo).
Defending Philippine Cup champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings has two Negrense cagers on the roster such as Jeffrei Chan and Joe Devance, who has roots from Escalante City.
Terrafirma Dyip, for its part, secured the nods of Silay-native John Paul Calvo and Andreas Cahilig, who has roots from Aklan.
Other WV-based players in the upcoming PBA conference were TNT Tropang Giga’s Kib Montalbo (Bacolod), Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters’ Justin Chua (Bacolod), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ James Yap (Escalante), and San Miguel Beermen’s Paul Zamar (Iloilo).
Also competing in the tournament kicking off this Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City were the Alaska Aces, Blackwater Bossings, and Magnolia Hotshots./PN
