San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo bags 9th PBA MVP award

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The accolades just keep on pouring for June Mar Fajardo.

The San Miguel Beermen behemoth clinched a record-extending ninth Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, the only player in the history of the league to achieve such a feat.

Fajardo edged NLEX’s Robert Bolick and former NorthPort superstar Arvin Tolentino for the trophy awarded on Oct. 5, 2025, during the Leo Awards ceremony at Novotel in Cubao, Quezon City.

The 6-foot-10 center tallied an average of 19.2 points, 15.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 block during the 49th season of the PBA.

During that span, Fajardo’s consistency wearing the San Miguel jersey steered the franchise to a championship title during the Philippine Cup, where they spoiled the Grand Slam aspirations of the TNT Tropang 5G.

Despite a shaky start in the Philippine Cup, Fajardo’s resurgence in San Miguel’s final four elimination games put them in their sharpest form, winning it all to end their drought in the All-Filipino conference.

Humble as he always is, Fajardo thanked everyone who supported him when his journey in the sport of basketball started in Cebu.

“Salamat ulit, nandito na naman ako sa harap nyo. Maraming salamat po, unang una nagpapa salamat ako kay God, sa mga blessings na binigay nya sa akin. Sa PBA, comm Willie Marcial, sa lahat ng PBA governors,” Fajardo said.

The towering force in the paint also admitted that he was bullied for having a tall frame at such a young age, but later on said that he didn’t know it was the ultimate blessing that God granted him to help him change his family’s fortunes.

“Kahit ako hindi ko ine-expect na aabot ako sa ganito. Dati sobrang hate ko yung height ko kasi ako ang pinaka matangkad, lagi akong binu bully,” Fajardo added.

“Pero na realize ko, na yun pala ang ultimate gift na binigay ni God sa akin. Yun pala ang mag babago ng buhay ko, at buhay ng family ko.”

Now, Fajardo will have a new set of missions as the 50th PBA Philippine Cup just kicked off, aiming to take the San Miguel franchise once again to the championship round together with Chris Ross, Jericho Cruz, CJ Perez, Don Trollano, and Marcio Lassiter.