The Batangas City Athletics (also known as Batangas City Tanduay Athletics for sponsorship reasons) 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.
They 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. They then renamed to the Tanduay Rum Masters in 2024. They clinched the inaugural championship in 2018. The Rum Masters are based in Calabarzon and since its establishment have been backed by the Tanduay Distillers as part of the company's athletics program. The Batangas City franchise has also played in the FilBasket.
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.
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.
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.
For the 2026 season, the team reverted back the name as the Batangas City Athletics.
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.
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.
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, Batangas Province Events Center,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 Batangas State University 2,500 Batangas Province Events Center 6,000 De La Salle Lipa Lipa, Batangas 1,000 FPJ Arena San Jose, Batangas 3,000
Rivalries Zamboanga Sikat
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
Head coaches Batangas City Athletics head coaches # Name Start End Achievements Ref. 1 2018 2019 — 2 2019 2019 — 3 2019 2019–20 — 4 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 ResultsBatangas City Athletics 2018 — 1st 9 8 1 — 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 5 Division semifinals Division finals won vs. Imus, 2–1 won vs. Zamboanga, 2–1 lost vs. Davao Occidental, 1–2 2019–20 South 4th 30 19 11 7 Division quarterfinals lost vs. Zamboanga, 1–2Batangas City Embassy Chill 2022 South 2nd 21 17 4 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 1 Division quarterfinalsDivision semifinalsDivision finals won vs. Imus, 2–0won vs. General Santos, 2–1lost vs. Bacoor City, 0–2Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters 2024 South 2nd 28 20 8 1 Division quarterfinalsDivision semifinalsDivision finals won vs. South Cotabato, 2–1 lost vs. Quezon, 1–2 2025 South 2nd 29 20 9 5 Division quarterfinals Division semifinals won vs. Zamboanga, 2–1 lost vs. Biñan, 1–2Batangas City Athletics 2026 South 4th 25 19 6 2 Division quarterfinals TBD vs. Cebu All-time regular season record 140 55 8 playoff appearances All-time playoff record 30 19 1 finals appearance All-time overall record 170 74 1 championship
See also Tanduay Rhum Masters Tanduay Light Rhum Masters
References