THE Seventh Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police (AFP-PNP) Basketball Tournament will kick off on November 4 at the Davao City Recreation Center.

Games will immediately follow after the short opening rites set at 2 p.m.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte will grace the inaugurals of this year's edition of the tournament among the various units of the AFP and PNP.

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A total of 16 teams are entered in the tournament presented by Mayor Duterte and Vice Mayor Sara Duterte.

Leading the cast are defending champion Regional Mobile Group and Inday Sara AFP-PNP- Kadayawan Invitational champion the City Mayor's Office.

Other entered teams are Davao City Police Office, Philippine Navy, PNP-Special Action Force, 10th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, Task Force Davao, Regional Headquarters, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coastguard, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, PNP-National Support Unit, Second Scout Ranger Batallion, Bureau of Fire Protection, Regional Training School-XI and Compostela Valley Police Provincial Office.

The participating teams will be divided into two brackets with the top 2 teams after the elimination round will advance to the crossover semifinals wherein the seeded teams will enjoy a twice to beat previlige.

The winner in the next round will make it to the best of three finals while the losers will play one game for third place.

RMG is all primed up to defend its title with the core of last year's championship run is still in the fold.

Expected to provide formidable challenge to RMG are DCPO, BFP, RHQ and CMO.

The tournament is sanctioned by Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP)-XI.