THE PBA season-ending Philippine Cup will be the last for Terrafirma.
After an uneventful 11-year stay in the pro league, highly reliable sources told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday the Dyip have agreed to sell their franchise to Starhorse Shipping Lines.
Under the agreement, the domestic shipping company will buy the Terrafirma ball club lock, stock, and barrel—much like what happened in 2022 when the storied Alaska squad opted to leave Asia’s pioneering pro league for good, with Converge taking over its franchise.
Insiders refused to name the Dyip’s price but many said it’s likely to be like in the Alaska-Converge pact— more or less than P100 million.
The sale, however, has to get the nod from two-thirds of votes from the PBA’s board of governors.
Founded in 2008 by the late Quezon provincial board member and businessman Victor Reyes, Starhorse Shipping Lines is backing Basilan’s return to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, virtually making its stint in the regional cage meet a tryout of sorts.
In the event the sale pushes though, Starhorse Shipping Lines will retain the Dyip roster that features veteran stars Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo, Aldrech Ramos, Kevin Ferrer, and upstart players in Aljun Melecio, Mark Nonoy, Paolo Hernandez, Louie Sangalang, and Brent Paraiso.
Starhorse will also have the rights to star big man Christian Standhardinger, who opted to retire before the start of the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup.
The Dyip joined the PBA with much fanfare in 2014 as KIA and as an expansion team, with boxing great and former Senator Manny Pacquiao as playing coach.
But after a few name changes—from KIA to Mahindra to Columbian and Terrafirma, one remained constant—the Dyip became the pro league’s perennial laughingstock.
Terrafirma has only reached the playoffs twice, first in the 2016 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals and last season’s Last Eight where the Dyip nearly toppled the mighty San Miguel Beermen.
Just before the 49th season, Terrafirma traded reigning Rookie of the Year Stephen Holt and Isaac Go and the last Draft’s No. 3 pick overall (that turned out to be RJ Abarrientos) to Ginebra for Standhardinger and Pringle.
The Dyip also parted ways with coach Johnedel Cardel after the first conference and tapped Raymond Tiongco at the helm—the final tell-tale signs of their impeding phasing out for what true-blue fans want—a modern franchise, this time, a shipping line that they also hope will be free of a “farm team” insinuations.
