Basilan Steel

The Basilan Starhorse, previously known as Basilan Viva Portmasters, is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Lamitan, Basilan. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team most recently played its home games at Lamitan Capitol Gym.

The team began playing as the Basilan Steel in the 2018–19 MPBL season as part of the league's national expansion. In 2021, they renamed as the Basilan Peace Riders upon moving to the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, where they won their only league championship. In 2022, the team moved leagues once again, this time to the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) before going back to the MPBL in 2025.

The Basilan franchise is one of five teams based in Mindanao and the lone team based in the Bangsamoro region. The team is backed by the Starhorse Shipping Lines.

History

2018–2021: First MPBL stint

The Basilan Steel was founded as one of sixteen expansion teams for the MPBL's 2018–19, as one of five expansion teams from the Visayas and Mindanao. The team was originally going to be called the Basilan Shooters, but was renamed since it may be associated with violence. Their application was accepted by the league in May 2018 who reasoned that they want to show the beauty of Basilan "through basketball".

In the 2018–19 season, the team finished with a 7–18 record, giving the team the second-worst record in the South Division. In the 2019–20 season, Basilan won 20 of the 30 games that season, awarding them with the division's third seed. After defeating Iloilo and then Bacoor City, the team reached the division finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers.

South Division finals fallout

The series was tied 1-1 before the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the playoffs for one year. When the league resumed play with a bubble in Subic, Basilan had some of its players tested positive for COVID-19, thus ruling them out of the bubble and putting an abrupt end to the season. Davao Occidental would go on to advance to the national finals and eventually win the championship.

2021: Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup

Basilan moved to the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup as one of its inaugural teams, going by the name Basilan Peace Riders, marking the team's first professional stint. After going undefeated in the Mindanao leg of the 1st Conference, Basilan was granted an instant berth into the Mindanao finals against the fourth-seeded Roxas Vanguards. The Peace Riders swept the Vanguards to advance to the First Conference finals against KCS Computer Specialist – Mandaue. In the best-of-five series, Basilan beat Manduae 3–0 to win their first-ever league championship.

2021: Brief return to the MPBL

The team returned for the 2021 Invitational, going by the name Basilan Jumbo Plastic. The team was given the group's first seed as a reward for winning the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup 1st Conference. After defeating Mindoro and Pasig, the team made it to the winner-takes-all finals against the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards. With 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime and the score tied at 80, Philip Manalang made the championship-winning buzzer beater to give Basilan the MPBL Invitational title.

2022: Pilipinas Super League

The Basilan Steel transferred yet again, this time to the Pilipinas Super League alongside the Davao Occidental Tigers. In the 2022 Pearl of the Orient Cup, Basilan finished on 8–6 and ranked 4th. In the semifinals, Basilan faced the first-seeded Davao Occidental, but was swept in the series. The team then lost the third-place game against second-seeded Roxas Vanguards.

2025–present: Revival and full-time return to the MPBL

On November 27, 2024, in an interview with Snow Badua on SPIN.ph, Sumisip mayor Julz Hataman announced the revival of the Basilan franchise and its full-time return to the MPBL. Funding the team's comeback to the regional league was shipping company Starhorse Shipping Lines. The team acquired PBA veterans Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos as well as all-stars Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Emman Calo, and Jeff Viernes to join the returning team. The team also appointed Mac Tan, who won the inaugural MPBL championship with the Batangas City Athletics, as the head coach. Former PBA players Rich Alvarez and Rob Labagala also join the coaching staff as two of four assistants.

Team identity

Name

The team was initially going to go by the Basilan Shooters, but management decided to change the name due to the name's violent connotations. The name Steel was derived from the idea that name of the team's home province came from the Yakan word "Besih" which means steel. Basilan was known for its abundant iron ore deposits which was used for sword and other weapons by early Filipinos. When the team was revived in late 2024, it was initially going to be named the Basilan Starhorse, but due to Starhorse's potential acquisition of the Terrafirma Dyip franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association, the name was later changed to Basilan Viva Portmasters.

Logo

The team's first logo consists of a Moro in traditional Yakan garments and a kalis. An indigenous sword with a wavy blade takes the shape of the "I" in "BASILAN". The logo was designed by Arjay Hije under Chronos Athletics. The logo was abandoned when the team changed their name to Basilan Peace Riders. The logo was used again for Basilan's men's volleyball team in 2021. For the team's revival as the Starhorse, the shape of the logo remains largely the same, with the exception of a knight chess piece replacing the Moro image in the logo.

Color scheme

The team has always used a red and black color scheme, but initially, it was going to be gold and black. According to Hije, black represents the perception of Basilan as a war-torn arena, while gold represented Basilan as a place where people "can live joyfully and harmoniously". Gold would be eventually used for the Steel Spikers' logo.

Personnel

Current roster

Head coaches

Notable players

Individual award winners

VisMin Most Valuable Player
* Hesed Gabo – 2021 (1st)

VisMin Mythical Team
* Hesed Gabo – 2021 (1st)
* Michael Mabulac – 2021 (1st)

PSL Mythical Team
* Jason Melano – 2022

All-Stars

MPBL All-Star selections
* Jojo Tangkay – 2019
* Allyn Bulanadi – 2020

PBA players

Ex-PBA players

* Rabeh Al-Hussaini
* Juneric Baloria
* Anthony Bringas
* Jervy Cruz
* Dennis Daa
* Michael Juico
* Michael Mabulac
* Rey Publico
* Arwind Santos
* Encho Serrano

* Jojo Tangkay
* Jeff Viernes

Drafted to PBA
* Hesed Gabo – undrafted, 2019 ''(later signed)''

Season-by-season records

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup

Pilipinas Super League

See also

* Basilan Steel Spikers

References

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{{MPBL
{{Mindanao Sports

Basilan Viva Portmasters
Basilan
Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup teams
Pilipinas Super League teams
2018 establishments in the Philippines
Basketball teams established in 2018