By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Eight players who traced their roots to Negros Occidental are rostered in the 2025 PBA Philippine Cup, which commenced yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
The Blackwater Bossing has two Negrense players in Bacolod City-native Justin Chua and Negros Occidental’s Silay City-native Miguel Corteza in the opening day roster of the season-ending conference.
Grand slam-seeking TNT Tropang Giga also has two Negrense cagers in Negros Occidental’s Manapla-native Paul Varilla and Negros Oriental’s Calvin Oftana.
Other Negrense players are Pontevedra-native Raymar Jose of the Meralco Bolts, La Carlota City-native Mark Nonoy of the Terrafirma Dyip, Hinigaran’s Jhan Nermal of the Converge FiberXers, and Bago City’s Raul Soyud of the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
There are some notable Negros Occidental-based players who were not rostered this conference in Bacolodnon Kib Montalbo and Escalante City-native James Yap, who both last played for the Bossing.
Action resumes today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, with the Bossing facing the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots at 5:00 p.m., and the Road Warriors battling the San Miguel Beermen at 7:30 p.m./ASC, WDJ