By Adrian Stewart Co

Negros Occidental will be well represented in the 2021 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup as 10 players who traced their roots from the province will be part of the 12 teams.

Based on the lineup released by PBA, Bacolod City has the most players from Negros Occidental with five, Escalante City has two while Bago City, Silay City and Pontevedra have one each.

Meralco Bolts has the most number of Negrense players in their roster with three in Bacolod City-natives Reynel Hugnatan and Siverino Baclao and Pontevedra-native Raymar Jose.

Defending Philippine Cup champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings has two Negrense cagers in the roster in Bacolod City’s Jeffrei Chan and Joe Devance, who has roots from Escalante City.

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters has two-time PBA MVP James Yap, who is also from Escalante City, while NLEX Road Warriors has Bago City-native center Raul Soyud in its lineup.

Bacolod City-natives Justin Chua and Kib Montalbo are with Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters and TNT KaTropa, respectively, while Silay City’s John Paul Calvo is with Terrafirma Dyip.

Also competing in the tournament kicking off this Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City are NorthPort Batang Pier, San Miguel Beermen, Alaska Aces, Blackwater Bossings, and Magnolia Hotshots.

Opening day schedule features the Aces and the Bossing at 12:30 p.m., Painters and Road Warriors at three in the afternoon and Bolts and Batang Pier at six in the evening./ASC, WDJ