Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters

"Tanduay Rum Masters" redirects here. For the PBA team, see Tanduay Rhum Masters. For the PBA D-League team, see Tanduay Light Rhum Masters.

The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters are a professional basketball team based in Batangas City, Batangas. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team splits its home games between Batangas City Sports Coliseum and FPJ Arena in San Jose.

Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters
2025 Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters season
League	MPBL
Founded	2018; 7 years ago (2018)
History	Batangas City Athletics 2018–2021, 2024 Tanduay Rum Masters 2022 Batangas City Embassy Chill 2022–2023 Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters 2023, 2024–present
Arena	Batangas City Sports Coliseum FPJ Arena (San Jose)
Location	Batangas City, Batangas
Main sponsor	Tanduay Distillers[1][2]
Head coach	Pocholo Villanueva
Championships	MPBL: 1 (2018)

The team joined in 2018 as one of the founding teams of the MPBL. The team first went by the Batangas City Athletics before changing to Batangas City Embassy Chill in 2022. The team then changed its name to the Tanduay Rum Masters in 2024. The Batangas City franchise has also played in FilBasket.

The team has been successful throughout its history, they clinched the inaugural championship in 2018 and has made the division finals in four of the last five seasons. To date, they are the only MPBL team to make a playoff appearance in every season of the league's existence.

The Rum Masters are one of five teams based in Calabarzon and since its establishment has been backed by Tanduay Distillers as part of the beverage company's athletics program.

History

Tanduay's prior involvement

Tanduay's involvement with basketball can be traced back to the Tanduay Rhum Masters that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1987 and again from 1999 to 2001.

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

In 2018, the Batangas City Athletics were founded as one of the league's ten charter teams. With a record of 8-1, Batangas City captured the league's best record and made it to the 2018 MPBL Rajah Cup finals, where they beat the Muntinlupa Cagers, three games to one, to become the inaugural MPBL champions.^[3]

In the 2018–19 season, Batangas City ended the season with a record of 13-10 to claim the second seed in the Southern Division. The team failed to defend their championship, after they lost to the Davao Occidental Tigers in the division finals in three games.

In the 2019–20 season, Batangas City made their third straight playoff appearance with a record of 19-11, but lost to the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines in the First Round in three games.

Logo of the Batangas City Embassy Chill used from 2022 until 2023.

The team opted out of the 2021 Invitational before returning in 2022, in which the team was renamed to Batangas City Embassy Chill. With a 17-4 record, the team made their fourth straight playoff appearance, once again making a run to the division finals, where they would once again fall to Zamboanga in three games.

For the 2023 Preseason Invitational, the team was temporarily renamed as the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters.

FilBasket

As the MPBL postponed its fourth season to 2022, the Tanduay-backed franchise were among the teams that took part in FilBasket. The team first took part in the 2021 Subic Championship. The Athletics finished 8th, but lost to eventual champions AICC Manila.^[4][5]

Right before the 2022 MPBL season, the franchise took part in the succeeding 2022 Summer Championship, marking the franchise's first professional outing. As the Tanduay Rum Masters, the team finished the elimination round 11–0, winning every game. During the playoffs, they first beat Muntinlupa in the quarterfinals but would get swept by the fifth-seeded San Juan Knights in the semifinals.^[6][7]

Home arenas

The franchise has played most of its home slate at Batangas City Sports Coliseum, making it their primary venue. The team also played some games at other venues across the province, including Batangas State University, De La Salle Lipa in Lipa, and FPJ Arena in San Jose.

Venue	Location	Capacity	2018	2018–19	2019–20	2022	2023	2024	2025
Batangas City Coliseum	Batangas City, Batangas	4,000	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Batangas State University		2,500	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	TBA
De La Salle Lipa	Lipa, Batangas	1,000	N	Y	N	N	N	N	TBA
FPJ Arena	San Jose, Batangas	3,000	N	N	N	N	N	Y	TBA

Rivalries

Zamboanga Sikat

Main article: Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters–Zamboanga Sikat rivalry

Zamboanga and Batangas City have faced each other in the playoffs in three consecutive occasions from 2019 to 2022, all of which went the full three games. Batangas City won the series in 2019. As of 2023, the two teams have met a total of thirteen times in the MPBL.

Current roster

Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters roster

• v
• t
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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 1 Carlos Isit Jr. 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 1984–02–21 G 8 Arturo Oliva III (HG) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Arellano G 9 Philip Paniamogan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1991–05–30 José Rizal G 10 Rudy Lingganay 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1986–08–15 UE F/C 14 Kris Porter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1994–09–02 Ateneo F 15 Dawn Ochea 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Adamson G/F 19 Oliver Neal Arim (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Centro Escolar G 21 VJ Alarcon (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) G 22 Levi Hernandez 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1990–03–09 Arellano F 23 Cedric Ablaza 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) STI C 24 Mark Neil Cruz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) José Rizal C 26 John Ambulodto 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1990–09–25 St. Clare G 27 King Importante 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Adamson G 31 MJ Dela Virgen 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) José Rizal G 37 Jaycee Asuncion 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) José Rizal F 43 Jeckster Apinan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1987-01-09 José Rizal G 45 Juneric Baloria 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 1990–06–03 UPHSD F 81 Darwin Lunor 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) St. Clare

Head coach Pocholo Villanueva Assistant coach(es) Jay-R Aquino Warren Capitan John Mark Arenas Dino Ponce Enrile Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee (RS) Reserve player Injured Roster – via Genius Sports Updated as of: February 5, 2025

Head coaches

Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters head coaches
#	Name	Start	End	Achievements	Ref.
1	Mac Tan	2018	2019	—
2	Goldwin Monteverde	2019	2019	—
3	Woody Co	2019	2019–20	—
4	Pocholo Villanueva	2022	current	—

Notable players

Individual award winners

Finals Most Valuable Player Val Acuña – 2018

All-MPBL First Team Cedric Albaza – 2022

All-MPBL Second Team Jeckster Apinan – 2023

MPBL All-Star Day

All-Star selections Jhaymo Eguilos – 2019 Jeff Viernes – 2019, 2020 Cedric Ablaza – 2022, 2024 Jeckster Apinan – 2023 Mark Niel Cruz – 2023 Levi Hernandez – 2024

All-Star Game head coaches Pocholo Villanueva – 2022

PBA players

Ex-PBA players Val Acuña Lester Alvarez Jeckster Apinan Juneric Baloria Bong Galanza Rudy Lingganay Philip Paniamogan Kris Porter Teytey Teodoro Jeff Viernes Dennice Villamor

Drafted to PBA Paul Varilla – 13th overall, 2018 Bong Quinto – 14th overall, 2018 Teytey Teodoro – 23rd overall, 2018 Arvin Tolentino – 10th overall, 2019 Simon Camacho – 34th overall, 2019

Other notable players

• Derek Ramsay

Season-by-season records

	League champions
	Division champions
	Qualified for playoffs
	Best regular season record

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Season	Regular season							Playoffs
	Division	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Stage	Results
Batangas City Athletics
2018 Rajah Cup	—	1st	9	8	1	.889	—	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	won vs. Bataan, 2–0 won vs. Valenzuela, 2–0 won vs. Muntinlupa, 3–1
2018–19 Datu Cup	South	2nd	25	15	10	.600	5	Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals	won vs. Imus, 2–1 won vs. Zamboanga, 2–1 lost vs. Davao Occidental, 1–2
2019–20 Lakan Season	South	4th	30	19	11	.633	7	Division quarterfinals	lost vs. Zamboanga, 1–2
Batangas City Embassy Chill
2022	South	2nd	21	17	4	.810	1	Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals	won vs. Bacoor City, 2–1 won vs. Rizal, 2–0 lost vs. Zamboanga, 1–2
2023	South	2nd	28	22	6	.786	1	Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals	won vs. Imus, 2–0 won vs. General Santos, 2–1 lost vs. Bacoor City, 0–2
Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters
2024	South	2nd	28	20	8	.714	1	Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals	won vs. Davao Occidental, 2–0 won vs. South Cotabato, 2–1 lost vs. Quezon, 1–2
2025	TBA	To be determined						To be determined
All-time regular season record			141	101	40	.716		6 playoff appearances
All-time playoff record			43	27	16	.628		1 finals appearance
All-time overall record			184	128	56	.696		1 championship

See also

• Tanduay Rhum Masters
• Tanduay Light Rhum Masters