Ex-CESAFI stars fill up Casino lineup in MPBL

CEBU, Philippines — Former stars of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) dominate the 18-man roster of Casino Active-Cebu Niños in the upcoming Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) cage wars set to kick off next month.

Six of them are proud products of 12-time CESAFI champions University of the Visayas (UV) Lancers. They are John Abad, Harold Cincoflores, Franz Arong, Alfred Codilla, Raffy Oktubre and Cesar Catli.

Catli first sharpened his hoop skills as a member of the UV Baby Lancers before hooking up with the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws in the UAAP. He eventually landed in the PBA, playing first with the Sta. Lucia Realtors before moving to the Coca-Cola Tigers.

The other CESAFI alumni filling up the lineup of the International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPI)-backed squad are Enrico Llanto, William McAloney, and Ian Ortega of the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, Victor Nunez and Kevin Villafranca of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, Bernie Bregondo, and Jun Luz of the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras, and Garex Puerto and Mark Abadia of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters.

Completing the Team Niños are Iron Suano, Jondan Salvador, and Erick Rodriguez.

The second conference of the inaugural MPBL season will begin on June 12. Its format is patterned after that of the NBA owing to the entry of expansion teams from the Visayas and Mindanao region.

The year-long conference of the league founded by Filipino sports icon Sen. Manny Pacquiao is divided into Northern and Southern Divisions, with the division champions slugging it out for the National Championships. The winner will take home a gold-encrusted trophy worth P10 million and ball rings for reach team member.— EBV