“Honestly, I did not expect to win 10 championships since all I want is to give my rivals fierce competition,” said Mikee Romero, who co-owns the RP Patriots with businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco.

When businessman Mikee Romero retired Harbour Centre from PBL competition last year and introduced a new team with a new coach and several new faces, many thought he could not win another championship.

They were all wrong. Romero’s Midas touch has not waned –even a bit.

He did not only win once but twice – the latest was the historic victory of the Philippine Patriots in the recent ASEAN Basketball League where they swept Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma in a best-of-five title series.

This brought his total championship to 10, making him the most successful team owner in amateur basketball in recent history.

“Honestly, I did not expect to win 10 championships since all I want is to give my rivals fierce competition,” said Romero, who co-owns the RP Patriots with businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco. “But all these championships were not given on a silver platter. We really worked hard for it.”

His basketball sense also greatly helped their cause.

After losing two straight games late in the ABL elims, Romero and team manager Erick Arejola brought in former PBA Best Import winner Gabe Freeman to help the team. The team won their next seven games, including a sweep of their championship series to become the first ABL champion team.

“Our regional rivals are getting stronger so we thought of getting Gabe. After several long distance calls, we managed to convince him to play for us. And he’s willing to play for us again,” said Arejola

What made his feat extraordinary was that he won all his 10 titles in succession, including seven in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL). And he did it in less than five years.

His two other internationals titles were the SEABA Club championship and the Thailand SEA Games which his team both won in 2007 – the year he completed a Grand Slam.

“That was perhaps my best year in Philippine basketball because I won four titles, including two in the PBL,” said Romero, who credited the team’s success to Arejola, who shares his enormous appetite for success.

“I learned a lot from my boss, so it was our mutual understanding that we pick players with never-say-die attitude which is also our team motto,” said Arejola.

After winning its sixth straight PBL championship, Romero used the name of the other company his family owned – Oracle Residences – in the PBL. After struggling early, the Oracle Titans won the franchise’s seventh title by beating Pharex in the PBL Unity Cup.