Aerial Voyager feted with special award

MANILA, Philippines — Vergel Meneses, a PBA great now serving as mayor of Bulakan, Bulacan, will be honored with the President’s Award by the PBA Press Corps in its coming annual awards night.

Meneses, the one and only Aerial Vorager in Philippine basketball, will also serve as the guest of honor and speaker in the affair curiously a quarter of a century after his PBA MVP feat with Sunkist in 1995.

The event was originally scheduled last March 16 at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center and to be aired by Cignal TV, but was postponed indefinitely when the entire Luzon was put under the enhanced community quarantine.

A two-time Mythical First Team member and three-time Best Player of the Conference, Meneses is the second recipient of the award first handed out to the entire PBA Board led by chairman Ricky Vargas in 2018.

Meneses first caught the public’s attention when as an 18-year-old forward from Jose Rizal College, he bested established amateur stars Jojo Lastimosa, Alvin Patrimonio, Bong Alvarez, and Nelson Asaytono to rule the 1987 PABL Freedom Cup slam dunk contest.

When he turned pro in 1992, he was tabbed by Presto as the no. 1 pick in the draft and then had a brief stint with Sta. Lucia, which bought the CFC franchise.

But it was with Swift/Sunkist that Meneses established himself as a superstar, becoming its franchise player who would lead the team to three championships, including back-to-back (Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup) fashion in the 1995 season when he emerged MVP.

The two-time slam dunk champion and four-time All-Star MVP later also suited up for Barangay Ginebra, FedEx, Red Bull, and finally, Talk ‘N Text. His no. 18 jersey was retired by Air21 Express in 2006 as he finished with a total of 9,453 career points in 590 games. He had career norms of 16.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.

Four years after retiring, Meneses tried his hand in coaching, taking the job as JRU Bombers head coach. He led his alma mater to five Final Four appearances in the NCAA before resigning from his post to run as mayor in the last elections.