Paranaque Patriots

The Parañaque Patriots go into another Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League campaign still chasing a first title, a decade-long project that has yet to move past the South Division semifinals. The closest they have come was in 2024, when they beat the Zamboanga Master Sardines in the quarterfinals before the Quezon Huskers ended the run.

The franchise was set up in 2017 and entered the league a year later as one of its charter teams, backed by the City Government of Parañaque, with Vice Mayor Joan Villafuerte as owner and Okada Manila as main sponsor. That inaugural season already carried a hint of what would follow: a run to the semifinals of the 2018 Rajah Cup, stopped by the Muntinlupa Cagers, a team the Patriots have measured themselves against ever since, given how close the two sit within the Southern Manila District.

Coaches have come and gone without changing that pattern. Michael Saguiguit held the bench the longest, from 2019 into 2024, and it was under him that the team reached its best finish yet. Stephen Mopera took over for 2025, and JR Villanueva has since been handed the job for 2026.

What has kept the Patriots relevant is a habit of growing their own rather than buying in. JR Olegario was named MPBL Homegrown Player of the Year in 2024, the same season Jielo Razon made the All-Star game. It is JP Sarao, though, who has become the face of that approach: a 2024 All-MPBL Second Team selection, he was singled out as Daily Fantasy's best player of that year's quarterfinal series, the kind of individual mark a team still waiting on team silverware learns to point to.