Vergel Meneses

For the year, he led Swift Hotdogs to a runner-up finish in the Governor's Cup together with import Herb Jones. He was named to his 3rd consecutive All-Star and at season's end, he was amply rewarded with a berth in the Mythical First Team after posting averages of 19.6 points, 3.1 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game in 71 games.

During the year, he showed all and sundry what a prolific talent he would be by winning the Most Improved Player award while averaging 16.3 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game splitting time with the Realtors (22 games) and Swift Hotdogs (50) teams. He was also named to the Mythical Second Team as well as his 2nd All-Star berth and 2nd Slam Dunk trophy.

He finished the year as the Express scoring leader and the league's 8th leading scorer with an average of 15.9 points per game in nearly an average of 30 minutes playing time. He added 3.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game for the season and saw him reached the 2,000 assists club, the 19th player to do so.

In October 2015, Meneses joins the list of sportsmen who ventured into politics as he reportedly running for Vice Mayor of Bulakan, Bulacan in the 2016 local elections.

On August 1, 2013, Vergel Meneses joined the Air21 Express as an assistant coach.

On December 18, 2013 during halftime of the Air21-Ginebra game, Meneses' Air21 No. 18 jersey was retired, a fitting reward to one of the most exciting players ever to grace the PBA hardcourt. He was likened by former teammate Mark Caguioa to Michael Jordan.

Meneses is now the new head coach of the Heavy Bombers signed up on November 4, 2009. He made his debut as JRU's head coach in the 16th Father Martin's Cup. In the 86th season of the NCAA, Meneses led his team to a 12-4 record after the elimination round, good for solo third behind early finalist San Beda Red Lions (16-0) and the defending champions San Sebastian Golden Stags (13-3). In the stepladder semifinals, his Bombers defeated 4th-placer Mapua Cardinals (9-7), 60-54, before bowing to the defending champions San Sebastian Golden Stags 61-52, as they finished in third place.

After Meneses finished his career in the PBA, he joined the 2008 PBA Legends US Grand Reunion Tour where he played alongside such basketball greats like former Toyota players Francis Arnaiz, Ramon Fernandez, Tim Coloso and Abe King (the organizer of the event) and old Crispa mainstays Abet Guidaben, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Bernie Fabiosa and Bogs Adornado.

After the arrival of Derrick Pumaren as coach of the Phone Pals in the 2006 Philippine Cup, the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals signed Meneses to a contract, erasing speculations of Meneses' possible retirement. At Talk 'N Text, he played sparingly in a reserve role while showing some decent games during the tournament. He played 8 games, with 1 start, for the Phone Pals in the 2006 Philippine Cup after sitting out the first conference, averaging 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, his lowest averages in his entire career. During the 2006-2007 off-season, his contract was not anymore renewed by Talk 'N Text.

In 2006, Meneses announced his retirement finishing his career with 9,453 points, 1,896 rebounds and 2,129 assists in 590 games where he logged 19,135 minutes of playing time, 174 steals, 270 blocks and shooting averages of 0.287 3-PT FG%, 0.470 FG% and .749 FT%.

In 2005, he played for the Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan-coached TM PBA Legends that defeated the TM PBA Greats, 96-92, in an exhibition match where he scored 21 points, second only to Caidic's topscore of 30 points. The game was the featured event of the league's 30th anniversary festivities. The two teams were made up of the 25 Greatest Players that were chosen by coaches Dalupan and ex-Senator Robert Jaworski. Incidentally, Meneses was one of only 4 active players then, the other three being Codiñera, Johnny Abarrientos and Kenneth Duremdes.

2004 saw him reach the 9,000-point plateau. He also made his 10th and last All-Star appearance during the year becoming the North team's leading vote-getter and the 2nd leading vote-getter for the All-Star festivities behind Danny Seigle. By making it to his 10th All-Star, he became only the third player with at least 10 appearances in the mid-year festivities after Jerry Codiñera and Patrimonio.

He again flashed his 3rd quarter explosion by scoring 13 points on March 17, 2004 in a game against the Alaska Aces. He also found his way playing for his 6th team, the Red Bull franchise, where he was reunited with former coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao.

Before the start of the revised 2004-2005 season, Meneses was traded by FedEx to Red Bull in exchange for Homer Se. He started out his career with Red Bull by playing at the 4th Shell Rimula Invitational Basketball Tournament (Sultan's Cup). However, injuries hampered Meneses' first few games with the Barakos. But he eventually played 51 games for the team during the year where he averaged 9.3 ppg, 2.12 apg and 2.02 rpg. In the 2005-2006 season, Meneses was put on the reserve list.

In 2003, he was named to the PBL's Top 20 Players for his exploits at Magnolia, Burger King, and Swift Hotdogs. He was also a three-time recipient of the Player of the Week award, for the periods March 10–16, 2003, March 17–23, 2003 and April 14–20, 2003. He also became the first local player in 2 years to score at least 20 points in a quarter when he scored 20 points in the 3rd quarter of FedEx victory over Ginebra. Meneses was voted into his 9th All-Star game where he was named as the All-Star MVP in 2003, his 4th overall, and also led the Express to a third-place finish in the 2003 PBA Invitationals. He was also the first recipient of the Sportsman of the Year award together with Benjie Paras and Rob Johnson.

He also became a sort of a 3rd-quarter man for the FedEx team as he scored: (a) 15 points vs. San Miguel Beer on April 16, 2003, (b) 16 points against Red Bull on April 27, 2003, (c) 20 points contra Ginebra on May 2, 2003, (d) 12 points opposite Talk 'N Text on May 9, 2003 and (e) 19 points for the Commissioners All-Stars versus the Governors All-Stars in the June 1, 2003 All-Star game.

Meneses was traded in 2002 from Ginebra to rookie team FedEx Express for a future draft pick. His career reemerged during his two-year stay with the team. At the Express team, he was reunited with Derrick Pumaren, his coach at Swift during their glory year in 1995. He again led the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game (15 games) on the way to a season averages of 12.4 points, 1.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game in 22 games (combined average while playing for FedEx and Ginebra), his second lowest scoring averages. He was also named Player of the Week for the period July 29 – August 4, 2002.

Meneses had four solid seasons with the Kings. In 2001, there were reports at the start of the year that Meneses would be traded for Mark Telan. However, just 3 games into the All-Filipino Cup, Meneses showed that he intends to stay with the franchise as he won Player of the Week honors for the period February 6–11, 2001. However, with injuries, as well as the arrival of rookie guard Fil-American Mark Caguioa, Meneses' minutes constantly diminished that eventually led to his transfer to FedEx, a rookie team that took over from the defunct Tanduay club. The highlight of his stay with the San Miguel Corporation-owned company was when the Kings made its first finals appearance in four years, when they lost to sister club San Miguel Beer in the All-Filipino Cup finals, 4-2. Meneses posted averages of 11.2 points, 10th-best 3.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game in 49 games for the year 2001 with Barangay Ginebra, his lowest averages since entering the league in 1992.

In 2000, Meneses was among those chosen to the PBL's 12 Greatest Legacy Team. In 2003, Meneses was named in the PBL's Top 20 Players list on the occasion of the league's 20th year.

The year 2000 was another good year for Meneses as he further cemented his place in the annals of the PBA as well as the PBL. He was selected as part of the PBA's 25 Greatest Players as well as the PBL's 12 Greatest Legacy Team. He again made another All-Star appearance, his 8th, where he won his 3rd All-Star MVP award. For the season, Meneses averaged 13.3 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in 32 games.

In 1999, after months of speculation, Meneses was finally dealt to crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra Kings for Luis Manuel "Noli" Locsin. For the year, Meneses established himself as the Kings go-to-guy by averaging 16.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game in 32 games. He was also voted as a starter to the 1999 All-Star game but was unable to play due to injury.

The 1998 season saw somewhat of a rebirth not only for Meneses but for the team as they posted two 2nd runner-up finishes in the All-Filipino Cup and Commissioner's Cup (with long-time Philippines resident Norman Black as import). But his inclusion in the 1998 Centennial team that represented the country in the 21st William Jones Cup (Champions) and the 13th Asian Games (Bronze Medal), spelled doom for the team in the Governor's Cup as it again failed to make the Final Four.

In 1998, Meneses was named into the Philippine Centennial Team for the Asian Games in Bangkok. With Meneses and former Sunkist teammate Duremdes sharing minutes in the shooting guard/small forward spot, the country took home a bronze medal in the said event.

He was also a part of the Philippine Team that won the 1998 edition of the Jones Cup held in Taipei, Taiwan. In 2004, he also played in the 4th Shell Rimula Invitational Basketball Tournament (Sultan's Cup) in Brunei where he started his career with the Red Bull Barako team.

In 1997, he made it to his 6th straight All-Star game and averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game in 37 games. However, his team, re-christened again as Pop Cola Bottlers, continued its downfall, failing to make it past the elimination round of all 3 conferences for the 2nd straight year.

In 1996, he made it to the 5,000-point club becoming the 5th fastest player to do so. He also became the first local player in ten years to win both the scoring and assists titles, averaging 19.6 and 6.6, respectively, while adding 4.0 rebounds per game in 37 games. He also made his 5th straight All-Star appearance. However, the team bombed out in all 3 conferences failing to make it past the elimination round.

In 1995, Meneses won the prestigious Most Valuable Player award after only four years in the league when he averaged a career-high 20.0 points, 5.4 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 3.3 rebounds per game in 70 games. He made it once again to the Mythical First Team, his 4th straight All-Star appearance where he won the first of his record-setting 4 All-Star MVP awards, and the BPC awards of the first two conferences, the All-Filipino and Commissioner's Cups as well as the Pro Basketball Player of the Year award from both the PSA and SCOOP Awards giving bodies. By winning the BPC awards of the first two conferences, he became the first multiple, as well as three-time winner, of the said award.

"In the eyes of most coaches today, there is no player as dangerous on the offense as Vergel," wrote the PBA Annual. "The reason is simple. The 1995 league MVP can break down opposing teams in so many ways, from his crowd-pleasing drives to his long jumpers to his ability to see the floor and hit open teammates with the perfect pass."

Sunkist almost completed a Grand Slam in 1995, the year the former Jose Rizal College Bomber airwalked his way head and shoulders above the rest and won the Most Valuable Player award.

In 1994, he further elevated his game to newer heights by winning the Best Player of the Conference award in the season-ending Governor's Cup which started a string of three straight BPC awards spilling over to the first two conferences of the 1995 season, thereby becoming the first three-time recipient of the award.

In 1993, the Presto team disbanded and the franchise was bought by the Sta. Lucia Realty team. Meneses spent a conference with the team. He led the team to a 3rd runner-up finish in the All-Filipino Cup.

After spending one conference with Sta. Lucia, he was dealt to the Swift Hotdogs where his star continued to glow even brighter. Together with import Ronnie Thompkins, the two led Swift to the championship of the 1993 Commissioner's Cup.

Vergel Meneses was the top pick in the 1992 PBA Draft taken in by the Presto Ice Cream (formerly Great Taste Coffee) franchise. At Presto, he played alongside 1990 Most Valuable Player Allan Caidic, Chairman of the Board Abe King, many-time Mythical Team member Manny Victorino and the late 1979 Rookie of the Year and Mythical Five Member, Arnulfo "Arnie" Tuadles.

He first played for RFM-Swift Hotdogs in the Philippine Basketball League, and then had a brief stint with Burger City before returning to his former ballclub. Meneses was tagged as Samboy Lim's successor in the high-wire act department and Vergel more than lived up to that tag. Like Samboy, Vergel was a superb one-on-one player. In 1989, he saw action for the RP Youth Team in the ABC Youth championships in Manila where the team won the bronze medal, as well as the national team in the 15th Southeast Asian Games where the Philippines finished runner-up to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. In 1991, he was part of the victorious Philippine Team that played at the 16th SEA Games held in Manila.

Individually, however, Meneses had another outstanding year. He averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game in 30 games. He was also a Member of the PBA All-Star team that went up against the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Gatling and company in the "Shaq-a-rap Tour" as well as the Centennial team that went up against various NCAA Division I schools in the US as part of the country's preparation for the 13th Asian Games. He also made it to his 7th straight All-Star game where he won his 2nd All-Star MVP, becoming the first player to win multiple All-Star MVP awards. He was later on joined by Benjie Paras who won both the 1989 ROY and MVP awards and repeated as MVP in 1999, who was a two-time All-Star MVP. The two were joined in the elite club much later by Asi Taulava and Jayjay Helterbrand who split the All-Star MVP award from 2004–2007, Taulava winning it in even-numbered years in 2004 and 2006 and Helterbrand securing it in odd-numbered years in 2005 and 2007.

In 1989 and 1991, Meneses was part of the RP Team that played in the 15th (runner-up) and 16th (champions) editions of the SEA Games.

In the 1980s, Meneses was a many-time member of the RP National Team alongside Jun Limpot and Nelson Asaytono. He was a member of the Under-19 RP Youth Team that played in the 1989 Asian Youth Championship held in Manila where the team copped the bronze medal.

He also led his team, re-christened as Sunkist Orange Juice, to the championship of both the All-Filipino and Commissioner's Cups (with Ronnie Grandison as import). After that, the coveted Grand Slam was beckoning. However, a loss to the Shell Rimula-X team in the playoff for the second finals berth denied them a shot at clinching what would have been only the 4th Grand Slam during the time in the league after the Crispa Redmanizers (1976 and 1983), and the San Miguel Beermen (1989). They eventually finished 2nd runner-up with import Stevin Smith in tow. In the process, he also lost the BPC award to former teammate Caidic for the conference denying him a sweep of the individual awards for the year (season MVP, All-Star MVP, BPC awards, Mythical First Team).

Vergel Meneses (born January 14, 1969, Malolos, Bulacan) is a Filipino politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He is also a retired professional basketball player who played for in the Philippine Basketball Association and the current head coach of the JRU Heavy Bombers of the NCAA Philippines. He is also a former PBA Most Valuable Player and a many-time member of the Philippine National team.