Background
Belga was born and raised in Gubat, Sorsogon and is the eldest among the three siblings. His father was a family driver while his mother was a housewife.
Belga was born and raised in Gubat, Sorsogon and is the eldest among the three siblings. His father was a family driver while his mother was a housewife.
He finished his high school education in Sorsogon.
He also stars in TV5"s sitcom Number Harm, Number Foul as Bo Abelgas. As a kid, he was very thin and was often bullied. As a way of escape, he focused his attention on basketball.
He decided to go to Manila and study at Philippine Christian University.
He was recruited to play for the Passenger Car Unit Dolphins by the school"s swimming coach while he was playing billiards with his friends. He was the seventh overall draft pick by Purefoods in 2008 before being traded to Burger King.
He found his niche as a basketball player while playing for coach Yeng Guiao"s Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, where he was known as one of the league"s toughest players. While with Rain or Shine, he also became teammates with J.R. QuiƱahan, and together they formed a duo in the low block, called the Extra Rice, Incorporated., owing to their weight and huge appetite.
In 2013, Belga was added to the Gilas Pilipinas training pool that competed in the 2013 International Basketball Federation Asia Championship, and was considered the "13th man", since he was the last man cut from the 12-man national team roster.
In 2014, he was included in the Gilas roster that will play for the upcoming 2014 International Basketball Federation Asia Cup in Wuhan, China, 2014 International Basketball Federation World Cup in Spain, and 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South of Korea.