Mon’s trophy measures well against his career
The Ramon Fernandez Trophy will have features that won’t be noticeable when it is awarded for the first time at the end of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
The trophy, which will be given by the PBA Press Corps to the Finals MVP, will bear Fernandez’s image and likeness, but will also contain measurements tied to the career of the legendary basketball icon.
The trophy’s height is 19 inches, which represents the number of championships Fernandez has won—which is still a league record. Of that height, the base is four inches thick, an homage to the number of MVP trophies he won.
Fernandez is the league’s first four-time MVP, having won the trophy in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988. Purefoods’ great Alvin Patrimonio matched his number in the 90s before current San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo obliterated that record with his nine MVP titles so far.
Fernandez’s statue measures 15 inches, a tribute to winning the 1989 Grand Slam with the Beermen in his 15th season.
The four-inch base, meanwhile, has a 19-inch circumference, matching his jersey number when he retired and 6.04 inch diameter to match his listed playing height of 6-foot-4.
Current PBA Press Corps officers conceptualized and finalized the trophy, with PBA head of statistics Fidel Mangonon III providing the design specifications and contextualization.
The group commissioned Raymundo’s Awards, known for making high-quality trophies and plaques.
San Miguel Beer and TNT are currently battling it out for the Philippine Cup title, with the Beermen leading the series, 2-1.
Fernandez not only gave his blessing to the PBA Press Corps for his name and likeness to be used in the Finals MVP but also promised to fly in from Cebu, where he is based, to award the trophy himself.
The press corps will also take the opportunity to award “El Presidente” with a duplicate of the trophy as a token of appreciation. That ceremony will also mark the first time the trophy will be unveiled.
The PBA Press Corps began awarding the Finals MVP trophy during the 1996 All-Filipino Conference, with Alaska Milk’s Jojo Lastimosa as its first recipient.
