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Meralco Bolts
2025–26 Meralco Bolts season
Founded	2010
History	Meralco Bolts (2010–present)
Team colors	Black, blue, orange, navy blue, white
Company	Manila Electric Company
Board governor	William Pamintuan Maria Luisa Alvendia (alternate)
Team manager	Paolo Trillo
Head coach	Luigi Trillo
Ownership	Manuel V. Pangilinan
Championships	1 2024Philippine 5 Finals appearances

TheMeralco Bolts^[1][2] is a professional basketball team in thePhilippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after theManila Electric Company (MERALCO) anMVP Group subsidiary acquired the PBA franchise of theSta. Lucia Realtors.^[3]

TheMERALCO Reddy Kilowatts was a powerhouse basketball team that played in theManila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) from 1968 to 1972. Operated by the MERALCO Athletic Club of the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), they briefly joined the MICAA prior to World War II and was re-admitted in 1968. The team was crowned as the 1971 MICAA Open champions, beating theCrispa Redmanizers.^[4]

The demise of theYCO–Ysmael Steel rivalry following the breakup of the Ysmael Steel team in 1968, paved the way for the MERALCO–Crispa rivalry starting in 1970. The rivalry came into full-bloom during the 1971 MICAA All-Filipino championship, when Reynoso and Jaworski punched referees Eriberto “Ting” Cruz and Jose “Joe” Obias for what was the duo perceived questionable calls against MERALCO. The incident resulted to lifetime suspensions meter against the two that were lifted eventually so that the two can join the national team in the 1973 Asian Basketball Championship.

The team disbanded in 1972 in the wake of thedeclaration ofMartial Law in the Philippines, wherein theMarcos government seized MERALCO fromEugenio López, Sr.

In June 2010, there were reports that Meralco expressed interest in joining the PBA and intended to buy eitherSta. Lucia's orBarako Bull's franchise after both teams unloaded most of their major players.^[5] After Barako Bull informed the board that they intended to stay with the league for the 2010–11 season, Sta. Lucia then filed a "leave of absence."^[6] On August 10, the PBA board finally approved the sale of the Sta. Lucia franchise to Meralco. The team would be named theMeralco Bolts. The team is one of three PBA teams presently under the control of businessmanManuel V. Pangilinan – the other teams being theTNT Tropang 5G and theNLEX Road Warriors.

The Bolts debuted during the2010–11 season with a lineup that includedMark Cardona,Asi Taulava,Nelbert Omolon,Marlou Aquino,Beau Belga, Dennis Daa,Chris Ross,Ogie Menor,Pong Escobal andChris Pacana.Shawn Weinstein,Ford Arao,Khasim Mirza andBam-bam Gamalinda were the first players to be drafted by the franchise. They started the Philippine Cup with a win against the crowd favoritesBarangay Ginebra Kings. In the middle of the conference, they traded some of their players in exchange forHans Thiele,Mark Isip andReed Juntilla respectively. They compiled a 7–7 record, which was enough to take them to the quarterfinals. However, they lost to theB-Meg Derby Ace Llamados 2–0. Before the Commissioner's Cup, they made a huge trade by acquiringSolomon Mercado along withPaolo Bugia andErick Rodriguez. They also signed 3-point shooterRenren Ritualo. Despite a revamped roster and imports Anthony Dandridge andChamberlain Oguchi, they did not past the eliminations after having a 3–6 record. The same happened during the Governors Cup when they had a 3–5 record.

The Bolts rebuilt its line-up during the offseason, releasingRenren Ritualo,Hans Thiele,Reed Juntilla andPaolo Bugia, as well as acquiring through tradesMark Yee,Mark Macapagal,Chico Lanete,Chris Timberlake and signing free agentsMark Borboran andBryan Faundo. During the2011 PBA Draft, Meralco selected Gilas reserveJason Ballesteros, as well asGilbert Bulawan to augment their frontline. In the2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup, they finished at 6th place at 8–6 win–loss record but swept by thePetron Blaze Boosters. In the2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup, they finished at another sixth place at 4–5 on that 102–98 upset win overPowerade Tigers but in another miss to the semifinals for the Bolts. In the2012 PBA Governors Cup, they finished three straight sixth places in their franchise. In the knockout game for the last semis berth, they defeated thePowerade Tigers, 94–86 to advance to their first semifinals appearance in their franchise history.

Ramon Segismundo announced the team's uniform for the2012–13 season will have similar design features with the 1971 uniforms worn by theMeralco Reddy Kilowatts.^[7]

The Bolts made some offseason moves prior to the start of the season. They acquired "El Granada"Gary David fromGlobalPort in exchange forChris Ross,Chris Timberlake and Meralco's 2016 and 2017 second round picks.^[8] They have also traded the rights of Asi Taulava to Air21 in exchange for Mike Cortez,^[9] shipped Mark Cardona to Air21 via a three-team trade which in the process, acquiredRabeh Al-Hussaini.^[10] They also acquired Kerby Raymundo from Ginebra for Jay-R Reyes. Raymundo has yet to play for the Bolts since he was traded because of a nagging knee injury, and is contemplating retirement.

Midway thru the eliminations, they signed up Danny Ildefonso for the rest of the conference, who was unceremoniously let go by Petron. After realizing that Danny I still has what it takes to play, and can still help the team in terms of his leadership and positive influence, the Bolts signed him for the rest of the season.^[11]

During the PBA Philippine Cup conference, they were off to a good start, and were able to beat top-seed teams like Ginebra. However, they suffered losing streak and ended up in a four-way tie with Alaska, GlobalPort and Barako Bull. Since Barako Bull and GlobalPort have higher quotients, Meralco was forced to play a sudden death game with Alaska Aces to determine the eighth and final playoff spot. The Aces defeated them and thus they were eliminated from playoff contention.

In 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup conference, they performed well, even eliminating the defending championPurefoods Star Hotshots, but were later eliminated byAlaska Aces

In 2015 Commissioner's Cup, they are in an undefeated streak due to their good performance. The team also had its import Josh Davis who helped to maintain their great streak.

In the Governor's Cup, the team tappedSeiya Ando as their import, alongsideAndre Emmett. Due to this, Ando became the first Japanese import in the league.

The 2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup was not as good as they had before. They suffered the worst with a 1–10 record. However, the team draftedChris Newsome andBaser Amer.

The team improved very well in the Commissioner's Cup, where they were led by ex-Maccabi Tel Aviv BC playerArinze Onuaku, who would win the Best Import of the Conference award. The team also went through some setbacks, with the suspension ofGary David in a game during an elimination round, due to insubordination. David was later removed from the line-up and becoming an unrestricted agent list.^[12]

The team also went to the Finals for the first time in their franchise history on theGovernors' Cup. The Bolts were able to upset the top-seed TNT KaTropa by winning their best-of-five semifinal series in four games. They faced the crowd favoriteBarangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Finals. Meralco entered the Finals as the underdogs, but managed to put up a fight and even steal Game 1. AlthoughGinebra won in six games, it was considered to be one of the most entertaining Finals series in recent memory.Meralco's import,Allen Durham also won the Best Import award and rookie guard/forwardChris Newsome won Rookie of the Year.

Before the season, Jimmy Alapag retired again, this time for good.^[13] The Bolts returned to theGovernors' Cup Finals after a worst performance in Philippine Cup and a quarterfinals defeat in the second conference, but this time with a TNT veteranRanidel de Ocampo. Even though they recovered on a 0–2 deficit, they still lost by seven games.^[14]

For the first time since their first finals appearance, Meralco did not passed the semifinals, as they are defeated by the Alaska Aces in a best of five saga in the2018 PBA Governors' Cup.^[15] It will also be Jared Dillinger's final season with the team.

With the addition ofRaymond Almazan andAllein Maliksi, the Bolts reached again thefinals, but facing again Ginebra. They lost in the series in five games.^[16]

After theCOVID-19 struck in the Philippines, the league announced to play at a bubble modeled like of the NBA. Only the Philippine Cup was played and they placed fifth in the eliminations. But when they reached semifinals, they lost to their archnemesis Barangay Ginebra.

The league now will play with two conferences, due to some lowering of regulations by the IATF. Now, Meralco withoutBaser Amer, after being traded to Blackwater forMac Belo, was now led byChris Newsome andRaymond Almazan. The Bolts reached the semifinals of thefirst conference facing theMagnolia Hotshots, but lost in six games.^[17] They reached thefinals again inGovernors' Cup, but again defeated by Ginebra in six games due to injuries occurred on Almazan.

In the middle ofPhilippine Cup, Norman Black filed leave for personal reasons and replaced by Luigi Trillo for last five games of the elimination round.^[18] Trillo led the team to the first playoff victory against Barangay Ginebra in Game 3.^[19] Black returned after Game 1 loss against San Miguel Beermen and led the team to tie the series, but wasn't enough to win the series and lost in seven games.

After a bad performance inCommissioner's Cup, they tappedK. J. McDaniels as their reinforcement in theGovernors' Cup but they were defeated by eventual champions TNT Tropang Giga in the semifinals.^[20]

After years of service as head coach, Norman Black was now reassigned as team consultant andLuigi Trillo will replace him on the former position.^[21]

In theCommissioner's Cup, paradingShonn Miller as their import, Bolts finished in the 5th place with 8–3 record tied with Ginebra and Phoenix, and the lowest of the three. Ended up with twice-to-win disadvantage, Meralco faced Phoenix Fuel Masters and forced a second game by winning the first game against Phoenix in a triple overtime and score of 116–107, thanks to a Cliff Hodge 20-point performance and Miller's 20 rebound game.^[22] But they are still eliminated in the second game 88–84, even three players scored 15 points.^[23][24]

Bolts did not duplicated the previous conference's win-loss record, but able to secure third-seed with winning quotient with other four teams (TNT, Rain or Shine, NLEX and Magnolia) with 6–5. In the best-of-three quarterfinals, they swept the NLEX Road Warriors.

In the semifinals, the team faced their archrivals Barangay Ginebra. Game 1 and 5, Ginebra won by 4 points in both games;^[25][26] the Bolts eventually beat Barangay Ginebra in seven games despite being down from a 2-3 deficit.^[27][28][29]

In thefinals, they faced theSan Miguel Beermen, who are dominated the conference and recently swept the Rain or Shine. After a Chris Newsome clutch basket in Game 6 and a June Mar Fajardo missed three-point shot, they won the finals series in 4–2, and grabbed their first championship in franchise history.^[30]

The team drafted CJ Cansino ofUP Fighting Maroons,^[31] and tapped the services ofAllen Durham as the team's import for theconference.^[32]

The team switched their main uniform color from navy blue to black, but retained orange and added other shade of blue. Fans said that jersey rebrand was inspired by the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[33]

"Biboy Liwanag" is the main mascot of the Bolts; he was first introduced as the team's mascot during their maiden season in 2010.

Meralco Bolts roster

• v
• t
• e

Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Aaron Black 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1996–12–03 Ateneo G 5 Jason Brickman (R) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1991–11–19 LIU Brooklyn G 6 Chris Banchero 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1989–01–24 Seattle Pacific F 7 Cliff Hodge 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1988–02–03 Hawaii Pacific G 8 Kurt Reyson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 1998–09–08 Letran G/F 11 Chris Newsome 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1990–07–25 Ateneo G 17 Anjo Caram 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 159 lb (72 kg) 1991–01–14 San Beda F 19 Bong Quinto 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1994–12–15 Letran C 20 Raymond Almazan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1989–08–02 Letran F 22 Allein Maliksi 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1987–09–18 UST F 24 Raymar Jose 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1992–08–06 Far Eastern F 27 Jansen Rios 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1991–10–28 Adamson C 28 Ismael Romero (CI) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1991–06–23 Turabo G 29 Jeff Comia (R) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 1997–08–29 New Era F/C 32 Kyle Pascual 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1990–04–13 San Beda C 33 Brandon Bates 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 231 lb (105 kg) 1997–08–12 De La Salle G 71 CJ Cansino 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1999–10–27 Philippines C – Ladis Lepalam (R) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 1999–11–27 St. Benilde F/C – Vince Magbuhos (R) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 1999–10–07 Adamson	Head coach Luigi Trillo Assistant coach(es) Gene Afable (1st assistant) Reynel Hugnatan Sandro Soriano Nenad Vučinić (active consultant) Norman Black (consultant) Team manager Paolo Trillo Legend (C) Team captain (CI) Commissioner's Cup Import (GI) Governors' Cup Import (EI) EASL Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

List of the last five conferences completed by the Meralco Bolts. For the full-season history, seeList of Meralco Bolts seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage

• Seiya Ando (2015 Governors')
• Earl Barron (2012 Commissioner's)
• Tony Bishop (2021 Governors')
• Suleiman Braimoh (2023-24 Commissioner's)
• Brian Butch (2014 Commissioner's)
• Anthony Dandridge (2011 Commissioner's)
• Josh Davis (2015 Commissioner's)
• Eric Dawson (2013 Commissioner's)
• Allen Durham (2016 Governors',2017 Governors',2018 Governors',2019 Governors')
• Andre Emmett (2015 Governors')
• Jarrid Famous (2012 Commissioner's)
• Darnell Jackson (2014 Commissioner's)
• Mohammad Jamshidi (2016 Governors')
• Zach Lofton (2023-24 Commissioner's)
• K.J. McDaniels (2022-23 Commissioner's,2023 Governors')
• Shonn Miller (2023-24 Governors')
• Johnny O'Bryant III (2022-23 Commissioner's)
• Chamberlain Oguchi (2011 Commissioner's,2011 Governors',2012 Governors')
• Arinze Onuaku (2011 Commissioner's,2018 Commissioner's)
• Tim Pickett (2011 Governors')
• Alex Stepheson (2017 Commissioner's)
• Mario West (2012 Governors',2013 Governors',2014 Governors')
• Terrence Williams (2014 Commissioner's)

• Meralco Bolts draft history
• Meralco Reddy Kilowatts
• F.C. Meralco Manila
• Meralco Power Spikers

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