Sunkist-UST to banner RFM’s return to PBL

For the love of the league it helped establish and nurture to become the country’s premier amateur basketball league, RFM Corporation will rejoin the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) starting with the season-ending 2003 Platinum Cup.

"PBL’s new approach of tapping school based teams opens the door for us to rejoin the league which we were a founding member," said RFM president and chief operating officer Joey Concepcion. "PBL’s program is more or less parallel with our own objective."

Inspired by the title conquest of the FEU Tamaraws in the UAAP Finals and a new corporate tag-line "We Love Kids", RFM has agreed to sponsor the participation of the UST Tigers in the Platinum Cup after both camps held a exploratory talk the other day.

The entry of the Sunkist-UST Tigers will bring the number of participants in the Platinum Cup to eight, including the RP Team. Other participating teams are Welcoat, Montana, Blu Detergent, ICTSI, Viva Mineral Water and Fash Liquid Laundry Detergent (formerly Hapee).

The UST representatives during that meeting with RFM bigwigs were Fr. De Sagun, Teddy Perena and coach Aric del Rosario. RFM was represented by Elmer Yanga, Ramon Lopez, Bien Umali and Melissa Lim.

According to Yanga, Concepcion’s able lieutenant for more than two decades already, 11 players from the Tigers squad and two other veterans — Rey Mendoza and Bern Franco - will comprise the team. The team will be known as Sunkist-UST Tigers.

The long and proven track record of UST in providing quality education and good Christian character molders also plays an important role in the decision of RFM to support the UST squad.

"The victory of FEU in the UAAP is a clear proof that the PBL is living to its role as a development league in the country and we are hoping to do that by helping the Tigers," said Yanga. "FEU became a contender due to their stint in the PBL."

The Tamaraws carried the colors of Viva Mineral Water in the First Conference and made a big impact as they figured in a best-of-three finals with Hapee Toothpaste.

The UST Tigers will be the fourth collegiate team in the league, joining Ateneo (Fash), UP (Blu Star Power) and La Salle (ICTSI).

Ateneo triumphed in the UAAP Finals two years ago, a feat many believed could not have been achieved without participating in the PBL.

Yanga, however, is candid enough not to expect from their maiden stint, saying: "We don’t have enough weapons to make an impact right now, but who knows?"

The roster is far from ideal but Yanga is not discounting the possibility that the Sunkist-UST Tigers will roar from time to time.