Danny Isla, the senior vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines, said Toyota will always "be happy to be part of a tournament as prestigious as the Konica Minolta National Pro-Am."

Isla said Toyota will stake one vehicle, "possibly a Fortuner," on Feb. 7, the Celebrity Pro-Am. Another Toyota vehicle will be up for grabs during the tournament proper on Feb. 8 to 11.

"From the very start since this fabled tournament was revived by Mr. Bravo (Bert) of U-Bix in 2001, Toyota felt honored to have been invited in this historic undertaking," said Isla. "We intend to continue doing so each time our presence is needed."

From 2001 to 2005, Toyota has been staking two vehicles in the tournament resurrected in 2001 after a hiatus of nearly a decade by Bravo, who chairs the executive committee again with Benny Gopez, president of the National Golf Association of the Philippines, with Comm. Danny Pizarro, the Riviera president, as organizing committee chair.

No other car company has staked two vehicles in any major tournament in the country.

Gerard Cantada and amateur partner JR Tanpinco will gun for a historic "three-peat" as they aim for their third straight victory against a field that reads like a who’s who in both pro and amateur ranks in the country.

Noli Kempis and Erwin Vinluan won in 2001 at Riviera’s Langer and Raul and Paul Minoza in 2002 at Couples.

Cantada and Tanpinco won in 2004 at Langer when the purse in 2003 had been added to breach the P1-million mark, repeating in 2005, also at Langer, to become the first back-to-back champions in the tournament chiefly backed by Grappa’s, Pivo Praha and S-Yard.

The tournament, which began in 1958 as the Fort Bonifacio National Pro-Am but got stricken off when the government privatized Fort Bonifacio, calls for a tandem to hit one ball alternately over four days of competition.

For more details, contact the NGAP at 5256987, email: ngapgolf@hotmail.com or visit the NGAP website www.ngap.net. You may also call Riviera at (046) 414-2868/2837.