MANILA, Philippines – When in tip-top shape, Terrence Romeo proved he is still the same man who won the last 3 PBA scoring titles. 

The flamboyant guard waxed hot for 25 points on top of 8 assists and 3 steals to power TNT to a monumental come-from-behind 104-102 win over NorthPort on Sunday, September 30, in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup. 

His secret? A massive weight loss. 

“Nag-lose ako ng 15 pounds in two weeks. Noong pagbalik ko sa TNT, medyo 185 (pounds) yata ako noon eh. Malaki ‘yung binaba ng timbang ko ngayon,” he told reporters after the win. 

(I lost 15 pounds in two weeks. When I returned to TNT, I was probably weighing 185 pounds. I lost a lot of weight.) 

Now quicker on his feet, Romeo led the KaTropa’s fightback from 23 points down against the Batang Pier in the final quarter.

He scored 9 points of his output in the payoff period, highlighted by back-to-back triples that knotted the score at 96-all before teammate Marqus Blakely took over the scoring cudgels from him in the endgame. 

The 26-year-old, who returned to PBA action last March after 5 months of being sidelined due to an injury, has been vocal for some time now that he has not been playing in his finest form.

Fortunately, the KaTropa had a 20-day break earlier this month and Romeo did not waste time to get to work.  

“Tine-take advantage ko ‘yun para mag-lose ng weight para mas maging in shape kasi noong early part ng conference nga, kahit noong first conference ko sa All-Filipino, wala talaga ako sa shape eh,” he said. 

(I took advantage of that break to lose weight so I can get back to shape because in the early part of the conference, even during the All-Filipino conference, I was out of shape.) 

Even with the KaTropa now on a three-game winning streak to improve to 4-4, Romeo said they are far from where they want to be. 

“Ngayon, nag-i-improve na kami. Kailangan sa susunod mas mag-improve pa rin kami kasi sobrang dami pa naming dapat matutunan.”

(We’re improving. But we need to improve more in the future because we still have a lot to learn.) 

Romeo has another 20 days to shed more weight as TNT takes on San Miguel on October 20 in Calasiao, Pangasinan. – Rappler.com