The NorthPort Batang Pier were a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides NorthPort, team owner Mikee Romero also co-owned the AirAsia Philippine Patriots of the ASEAN Basketball League. The franchise was bought by Pureblends Corporation in 2025, converting the team into the Titan Ultra Giant Risers.
Background Harbour Centre Batang Pier
The origins of the NorthPort Batang Pier can be traced to the 2004 Philippine Basketball League (PBL) franchise, the Harbour Centre Port Masters owned by Mikee Romero. In 2007, they changed its team name to Harbour Centre Batang Pier until 2009. The franchise have successfully won 7 straight PBL championships under coach Glenn Capacio from the 2005–06 up to the 2008–09 season, which they carry the team name Oracle Residences Titans on the season's last conference. They also earned the first place in 2007 SEABA Champions Cup.
Sale of the Powerade franchise
On July 30, 2012, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. announced that their PBA team, the Powerade Tigers, was sold to Sultan 900, Inc. which is owned and represented by its chairman and CEO Michael Romero.PBA: Powerade franchise sold to Mikee Romero-owned Sultan 900 Inc., GMA News Online, July 30, 2012Goodbye Tigers: Coca-Cola sells Powerade PBA franchise to Mikee Romero , InterAKTV, July 30, 2012Mikee takes over Powerade, Nelson Beltran, The Philippine Star, July 31, 2012 The board of governors unanimously approved the purchase on a special board meeting on August 17.GlobalPort officially accepted as newest member of the PBA , Rey Joble, InterAKTV, August 17, 2012PBA: Sale of Powerade Tigers franchise to Romero group approved, GMA News Online, August 17, 2012
History
2012–2013: First season Colors Uniforms
GlobalPort entered the league under the guidance of rookie head coach, Glenn Capacio, with the lineup led by Powerade carry-overs Gary David, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Rudy Lingganay, Rey Guevarra, Jondan Salvador, Josh Vanlandingham, Will Antonio, Alex Crisano and Rommel Adducul, together with off-season trade in from Barangay Ginebra, Willie Miller (in exchange for JVee Casio), draft picks Vic Manuel, Jason Deutchman and AJ Mandani, and signed free agents Marvin Cruz, Mark Yee and Angelus Raymundo. The team finished with a disappointing 1–13 record in its maiden campaign, winning only on October 17, 2012, against Meralco.
Ahead of the Commissioner's Cup, former Barako Bull coach Junel Baculi was appointed as the new head coach, while Capacio stayed on the GlobalPort coaching staff as Baculi's lead assistant.Junel Baculi to coach GlobalPort, Glenn Capacio stays as top assistant , InterAKTV, January 3, 2013 The team pulled off a major roster revamp, as the PBA approved two trades that landed previous conference's cellar dweller a major boost in the form of Sol Mercado and Japeth Aguilar, thus, forming the team's so-called MMDA (Miller, Mercado, David and Aguilar).GlobalPort revamps roster, adds Sol Mercado, Japeth Aguilar, GMA News Online, January 31, 2013 The team acquired Mercado from the Meralco along with Kelly Nabong, Jaypee Belencion and Yousif Aljamal, in exchange for Rey Guevarra, Vic Manuel, Josh Vanlandingham and their 2015 1st-round pick, while Rabeh Al-Hussaini was traded out to Talk 'N Text for Aguilar. The new Batang Pier looked promising after winning 2 of its first 3 games, but then the team lost all of its remaining games in the elimination, ending its campaign with a 2–12 record.
On June 11, 2013, GlobalPort's MMDA was disbanded as Japeth Aguilar was traded to Barangay Ginebra for Yousef Taha and the 2013 1st round draft pick it received from Talk 'N Text. In a separate deal, the team acquired Jay Washington from Petron Blaze for Jason Deutchman and the Batang Pier's 2016 and 2017 second round draft picks.BARANGAY GINEBRA FINALLY LANDS AGUILAR, pba.inquirer.net, June 11, 2013 The team ended the eliminations with a 4–5 record as Washington exploded for a career-high of 30 points and led the team in a win on their final elimination assignment against Ginebra. After two consecutive conferences finishing at the bottom of the standings, the team finally lands a spot in the play-offs as they finished fifth in the eliminations. Facing fourth seeded Rain or Shine having a twice-to-beat advantage, and as Baculi got ejected for a second technical foul late in the third quarter, the Batang Pier lost by a single basket and got eliminated in the first game of their quarterfinals series.
2013–2014: Terrence Romeo arrives Colors Uniforms
Before the start of the next season, GlobalPort underwent another major overhaul. They let coach Baculi go and appointed Richie Ticzon as new coach in an interim capacity. They also traded away David to Meralco. He was packaged by the Batang Pier with rookie guard AJ Mandani and sent to Meralco for guard Chris Ross, Chris Timberlake and two future second-round draft picks. Ross was also traded away to Petron for Dennis Miranda, who was eventually traded to Barako Bull in exchange for the sixth overall draft pick which they used to select RR Garcia. They also traded Miller to the Energy in exchange for veteran Enrico Villanueva on draft day.
They drafted college standouts Terrence Romeo (in the expense of sending Yousef Taha to Petron), Garcia, Isaac Holstein, Nico Salva and LA Revilla, who teamed up with established veterans Sol Mercado, Jay Washington, and former league MVP Eric Menk, who returned from playing in the ABL. Holstein was later traded to San Mig Super Coffee in exchange for fellow rookie Justin Chua and veteran Leo Najorda. The team also acquired Jewel Ponferada from the Mixers for a future draft pick and signed up Marvin Hayes. They have even won their first ever winning streak since they joined the league. However, they lost five straight games, only to be snapped in a win against Alaska, to keep their playoff hopes alive.
They ended their Philippine Cup elimination campaign with 5–9 win–loss record, taking the seventh place playoff spot, and were pitted against twice-to-beat Rain or Shine in the quarterfinal round. They were ousted by E-Painters in their lone playoff game.
Prior to the start of the Commissioner's Cup, they made significant changes again. Pido Jarencio takes over as the new coach, in his first pro coaching career, Richie Ticzon. They also traded away Mercado for Alex Cabagnot. They sent Najorda back to Barako Bull for point guard Jonas Villanueva, with Villanueva then getting conveyed to Air21 for guard Bonbon Custodio.Petron/San Miguel Beer shakes up roster, brings aboard Sol Mercado and Rico Maierhofer, GMA News Online, February 18, 2014 Menk was also appointed as the new captain of the team. Mark Macapagal was signed from free agency. In the middle of the conference, big man Enrico Villanueva, who only played one game for Batang Pier, was acquired by Air21 in exchange for Ronnie Matias and Carlo Sharma. After losing their first 8 games, the Batang Pier won their last assignment against Barako Bull to give Jarencio his first win in the PBA. The team finished last in this conference.
Before the Commissioner's Cup officially ended, GlobalPort pushed through their bid to acquire Taha from San Miguel Beer in exchange of rookie big man Justin Chua.Petron/GlobalPort and San Miguel Beer push through with Taha for Chua trade, GMA News Online, April 29, 2014 After playing for a few games for the Batang Pier, Taha was then shipped to San Mig Super Coffee camp along with Ronnie Matias for center Yancy De Ocampo and sniper Val Acuña. In a separate deal, GlobalPort traded Nico Salva and Bonbon Custodio to the Barako Bull Energy to acquire Ronjay Buenafe plus a future second-round pick of the Energy.Salva, Buenafe, Matias, Acuna, Custodio added to package as San Mig, GlobalPort, Barako seal seven-player deal, SPIN.ph, June 3, 2014 Rudy Lingganay was also reacquired after being released prior to the start of the previous conference. A repeat performance for the Batang Pier as they ended the season-ending conference with another 1–8 win–loss record.
2014–2018: The Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo era
2014–2015 season With new season, new team logo, and a lot of fresh faces, GlobalPort continues to build its lineup. During the offseason, several trades were approved by the PBA. The team started by a one on one trade between incoming sophomore point guard RR Garcia for the services of Barako Bull forward Keith Jensen.PBA: GlobalPort swaps Garcia for Barako Bull's Jensen, GMA News Online, June 24, 2014 It was followed by the departure of ex-team captain Menk to join Alaska Milk in exchange for two second round picks. Jondan Salvador was then shipped back to Barako Bull for sweet-shooting forward Mark Isip.ALASKA ACQUIRES ERIK MENK FROM GLOBALPORT FOR TWO PICKS, Solar Sports Desk, August 12, 2014 And after being in and out of the trade bloc, GlobalPort management decided to trade Gilas forward Washington to Talk 'N Text for Nonoy Baclao and the Tropang Texters’ 2017 first round pick.GlobalPort's Jay Washington returning to Talk 'N Text in trade for Noy Baclao, 2017 first-round pick, spin.ph, September 22, 2014 The team also had a big rookie harvest from the 2014 PBA draft selecting Stanley Pringle as the first overall pick, Anthony Semerad (7th), Prince Caperal (17th) and John Pinto (19th).BIG ROOKIE HARVEST FOR GLOBALPORT, PBA (Inquirer), August 25, 2014 Jojo Duncil was then picked up by the Batang Pier, after being released by Barako Bull and signed the undrafted rookie Roider Cabrera, including the unsigned Kia Sorento pick, Paolo Taha.
Jarencio steered the team to a 4–4 start, including a huge upset victory against Talk 'N Text, which was also the franchise' first win against the Texters since joining the league in 2012. The average margin of their losses was only 4.25 points, until they were hammered by San Miguel with a 95–69 defeat, resulting to a sudden change within their coaching staff. Assistant coach Eric Gonzales was appointed as interim head coach, while Jarencio was named as the team's consultant. In this instance, the coaching change produced instant results for GlobalPort. The team gave Barangay Ginebra a tough beating with a 21-point victory. Gonzales became only man to claim a first game win as head coach of the Batang Pier, aside from helming the franchise to its biggest win since joining the league prior to the 2012–13 season.GLOBALPORT SURPRISES GINEBRA, PBA (Inquirer), November 30, 2014 The team then lost its chance for a twice-to-beat edge to Meralco on their final elimination game. They placed 8th with a 5–6 record. Before the start of the quarterfinals, Cabagnot was traded back to San Miguel in exchange for Mercado and the second round picks of 2018 and 2019.Alex Cabagnot returns to San Miguel Beer, Sol Mercado back with GlobalPort in revised trade deal, spin.ph, December 10, 2014 The team ended the campaign with the loss to Barangay Ginebra in the play-offs. Before the tourney was over, Mercado was traded away after playing one game for the Batang Pier to Barako Bull in exchange for Denok Miranda and a 2016 second-rounder.Sol Mercado on the move again as GlobalPort ships him to Barako Bull for Denok Miranda , InterAksyon.com, January 8, 2015