ML Kwarta plans to join pro league

MANILA, Philippines - ML Kwarta Padala, the country’s leading money transfer firm of the M. Lhuillier Group of Companies, is seriously contemplating on joining the PBA next year.

“It’s only a matter of time although they don’t want to rush things,” the source said. “They recognize the strength of the PBA as a premier advertising vehicle, and their passion for basketball has long been established.”

Instrumental in launching the basketball careers of Jojo Lastimosa, Samboy Lim, Peter Aguilar and Al Solis, among others, through his teams in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League in the ‘80s, Lhuillier and long-time head coach and Cebu City councilor Raul Alcoseba, the same source said, are weighing all options in analyzing the viability of putting up a PBA team in promoting ML Kwarta Padala nationwide.

Owned by businessman and sports patron Michel Lhuillier, with hands-on management participation from sons Michael (vice president for Visayas and Mindanao) and Charles (vice president for Luzon), ML Kwarta Padala brand is just one of the Lhuilliers’ business units.

Provincial games in Cebu City have received consistent backing from the Lhuillier family through the years, a relationship the renowned clan hopes to cement into a more permanent partnership.