Negros / RCPI-Negros Slashers In 1998, when he was 19 years old, Hugnatan joined the
Negros Slashers of the
Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). Negros offered him a monthly salary to play for them. He and
John Ferriols helped lead Negros to the top of the Southern Conference. Despite their small lineup, they made it to the finals. Hugnatan then missed Game 6 of the finals due to a fever. Without him, Negros lost to the
San Juan Knights. Once again, Negros made it to the finals in the 2001 season. In Game 3 against the
LBC Batangas Blades, Hugnatan had a double-double of 20 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to extend the series 2–1. However, Batangas won the following game and Negros lost in the finals once again. That season, he unanimously won the league's Most Improved Player award. In the 2002 quarterfinals, Hugnatan and
Dino Aldeguer both scored 19 points against the Osaka Pangasinan Waves to bring Negros to the semifinals. He then led Negros past the
Davao Eagles with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Then he helped lead the Slashers to a finals sweep of LBC Batangas with averages of 19 points and 10.3 rebounds. Soon after the 2002 season ended, the MBA folded up. With the disbandment of the league, Hugnatan and other MBA players applied for the
2003 PBA Draft. He agreed to a two-year contract worth P3.26 million. That conference, they made it to the
finals, where they won the title in seven games. Hugnatan competed in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest during
All-Star Weekend, losing to
Cyrus Baguio in the finals.
Alaska Aces 2004–06 seasons: New team During the
2004–05 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan, along with
Jeffrey Cariaso, was traded to the
Alaska Aces for
Ali Peek and
John Arigo. In his Alaska debut, he led them in scoring with 21 points, but they lost to the
San Miguel Beermen. He scored seven of his 15 points in the fourth quarter of a win over the
Barangay Ginebra Kings. The Aces secured the fourth seed for that conference. In a
2005 Fiesta Conference loss to the
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals, he scored 15 points. That conference, they failed to make it to the semifinals as they were eliminated by
Red Bull Barako in the quarterfinals. During the
2006 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan made two game-winning free throws with 10 seconds remaining in their game against Red Bull. He then scored a conference-high 16 points off the bench in a win over the Beermen. With the win, they secured a slot in the quarterfinals. In Game 3 of the quarterfinals, he fractured his nose. Still, he played in Game 4, and led the team with 16 points and into the semifinals. He then underwent surgery for his nose fracture. He made his return during the
2007 Fiesta Conference. In Game 2 of the Fiesta Conference semis against the Beermen, he contributed 13 points as they got to a 2–0 series lead. In Game 6, he had a double-double of 16 points and a PBA career-high 17 rebounds and also made three clutch free throws as the Aces made it to the
finals. In Game 2 of the finals, he contributed a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Aces got to a 2–0 series lead over Talk 'N Text. In Game 7, he scored 16 points and made a clutch free throw to give the Aces the championship; the Aces' first since the
2000 All-Filipino Cup. In a win over Coca-Cola during the
2007–08 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan scored 17 points to go along with 16 rebounds. In a win over Red Bull, he scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds. The Aces made it to the quarterfinals where in a Game 1 win over Coca-Cola he contributed 17 points. That season, he was selected as an All-Star for the
2008 All-Star Weekend, which was held in his hometown of Bacolod City.
2008–10 seasons: 3rd championship In a
2008–09 Philippine Cup win over Red Bull, Hugnatan had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. He then made a clutch putback with 21 seconds remaining to give Alaska a win over the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Alaska made it to the
finals of that conference, where they held leads of 2–0 and 3–2 against Talk 'N Text. However, they lost their last two games and Talk 'N Text won the championship. Alaska started the
2009–10 Philippine Cup with a win over the
Barako Bull Energy Boosters in which Hugnatan scored 18 points and six rebounds. He then led them with 20 points off the bench in a win over Ginebra. For his performances he won a Player of the Week award alongside Talk 'N Text's
Mac Cardona. He then contributed 16 points and eight rebounds as they won their sixth straight game. In a rematch against Barako he led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Alaska had its best start in 11 years with a record of 9–1. Alaska made it all the way to the
finals once again, but he struggled with turnovers and they got swept by the
Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. That season, he got to play in the All-Star game. In a Game 1 win of the
2010 Fiesta Conference semifinals against Talk 'N Text, Hugnatan scored all of his 16 points in the third quarter off the bench. After the series went the distance, Alaska returned to the
finals. There they bounced back and won the
2010 Fiesta Conference championship over the Beermen.
Meralco Bolts 2011–12 seasons: First seasons with Meralco On February 15 2011, during the
2011 Commissioner's Cup, the
Meralco Bolts acquired Hugnatan in exchange for
Hans Thiele and
Paolo Bugia. Hugnatan missed time during the
2011–12 Philippine Cup due to a knee injury. He returned to the lineup against Alaska. In the
2012 Commissioner's Cup, he scored 16 points in a win over Rain or Shine. In the
Governor's Cup, he scored 18 points in a loss to Ginebra. That conference saw Meralco making it to the semifinals as he scored 14 against the
Powerade Tigers. They had a 6–8 record in the semifinals, where their season ended.
2012–15 seasons: Final All-Star appearance In the
2012–13 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan led Meralco to the fourth seed. His best game in the eliminations came in a win over the
San Mig Coffee Mixers in which he had 15 points and nine rebounds. However they were swept in the quarterfinals by Alaska. They were also eliminated in the quarterfinals in the following conference, the
Commissioner's Cup. In the
Governors' Cup, Meralco started with a record of 4–2 and in second place in the standings. Although they fell to third place, they were able to beat the sixth-seeded Barako Bull in the quarterfinals behind Hugnatan's 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. In the semifinals, they fell to San Mig once again. That season, he was in the running for
Most Improved Player, but lost to
Jervy Cruz. In a
2013–14 Philippine Cup loss to San Mig, Hugnatan scored 16 points with eight rebounds. That conference Meralco didn't make the playoffs as they lost to Alaska for the eighth seed. They got their revenge in the following conferences as they beat Alaska in the
Commissioner's Cup and in the
Governors' Cup. During the
2014–15 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan scored a career-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting in a double overtime win over Barako. He then missed time due to a knee sprain. At age 36, he made his sixth All-Star appearance, with only
Jimmy Alapag (37) and
Asi Taulava (42) older All-Stars than him. After the All-Star break he had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting in a win over Barako. In the
Governors' Cup, he held 7 ft tall center
Greg Slaughter to two points in the fourth quarter after he had scored 19 points through the first three quarters, leading to a win over Ginebra. He then made a clutch three pointer in a win over the Beermen.
2015–17: Meralco's first Finals appearances Meralco started the
2015–16 season miserably as they lost almost all of their games in the
2015–16 Philippine Cup with a record of 1–11. They bounced back in the
Commissioner's Cup as they qualified for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals against the
NLEX Road Warriors, Hugnatan scored a conference-high 20 points with seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. In Game One of their semis against Alaska, he had 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, and four assists, in 31 minutes but they lost. Alaska went on to eliminate Meralco from making the finals. In a
2016 Governors' Cup loss to Ginebra, Hugnatan scored 18 points off the bench. He broke out in their semis against the
TNT KaTropa, scoring 21 points on 5-of-6 from three in Game 3. For that performance he earned a Player of the Week award. He then contributed 16 points as Meralco made its first
Finals appearance in franchise history. In Game 1 of the finals he contributed 15 points but his team lost to Ginebra. He then scored 17 points and made three clutch triples as they took a 2–1 series lead. Hugnatan had impressive performances for the month of January 2017 throughout the
2016–17 Philippine Cup, including a season-high 28 points against the
Mahindra Floodbuster, but they lost six straight games in that conference. It was a different story in the
Governors' Cup as they started the conference with four straight wins. Against NLEX he scored 25 points off the bench, but they lost that game and snapped their winning streak. Meralco made it back to the
Finals of the Governors' Cup for the second year in a row, where they faced Ginebra once again. In Game 3, stepping up for the injured
Ranidel De Ocampo, he made seven triples for 22 points to prevent Ginebra from taking a 3–0 series lead. He then made a game-winning assist to
Allen Durham in Game 4 to tie the series. However, Ginebra closed out the series and Meralco was denied of the championship once again.
2017–2019 seasons: 5,000 points In a loss to NLEX during the
2017–18 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan scored 10 points and became the 88th player in league history to achieve 5,000 career points. In the
Governor's Cup, Meralco lost six straight games and was in danger of missing the playoffs. In their game against the
Magnolia Hotshots, he scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half as they started a winning streak. On November 30, 2018, his 40th birthday, he scored 13 points in a win over the Beermen, assuring Meralco of a playoff for the 8th seed. Meralco eventually qualified for the playoffs as the seventh seed, where they upset the second-seed
Phoenix Fuel Masters. In Game 2 of their semifinal series against Alaska, he contributed 12 points and seven rebounds as Meralco tied the series. In Game 3, he scored 19 points, five rebounds and five assists, but missed a putback that could have sent the game into overtime. Alaska won that game and then closed out the series, preventing Meralco from reaching its third straight Governors' Cup Finals. During the
2019 season, Hugnatan scored a season-high 16 points in a loss to Rain or Shine. Meralco made the Governors' Cup finals once again, but lost to Ginebra once again for the third time in four seasons.
2020 season: Resurgence in the bubble That season, the PBA was held in a specially created "bubble" isolation zone in
Angeles City. In his first game in the bubble, Hugnatan scored 16 points in a loss to Phoenix. A day after celebrating his 42nd birthday, he scored 14 points in a win over the
Blackwater Elite. He suffered a groin strain in their match against TNT, but was able to return to the lineup in time for Meralco's quarterfinals series. In Game 1 of their quarterfinals against San Miguel Beer, he led with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals as they forced a do-or-die game. Meralco won the next game, extending their playoff run and setting them up for a run-in with Ginebra in the semis. Ginebra led 2–1 in their best-of-five series but Meralco forced another do-or-die game with him making a go-ahead jumper with 15.1 seconds left and clutch plays by his teammates sealing the win. He finished that game with a game-high 19 points, along with four rebounds and four assists. In Game 5, he made a game-tying triple in the final seconds of the game, but this was supplanted by
Scottie Thompson's game-winning triple from the corner, ending Meralco's playoff run. Although Meralco failed to make the finals, this was still their best Philippine Cup campaign in franchise history. For that season, he averaged 11.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists, more than doubling his averages in the previous season. That and his role in Meralco's semifinals run made him a candidate for the
Most Improved Player award. Had he won, he would have been the oldest player to ever win the award. Instead, the award went to
Prince Caperal.
2021–23 seasons: Final seasons in the PBA For his impressive play the previous season, Hugnatan earned a contract extension. To begin the
2021 Philippine Cup, he scored 13 points in a win over the Beermen. He left the team near the end of the elimination round to attend the wake of his mother back home. He was able to return to the team in time for the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, he helped Meralco break away from NLEX in the fourth quarter, and Meralco made it back to the semis to face Magnolia. In Game 4, he had 21 points and nine rebounds but they still lost to Magnolia. Although Meralco won Game 5, Magnolia eventually defeated them in Game 6. In the
2022 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan helped Meralco score its first win of the conference by scoring 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter of their game against Phoenix. On May 12, 2023, head coach
Luigi Trillo announced that Hugnatan had retired from professional basketball and would become an assistant coach for the Bolts.
MisOr Mustangs In December 2023, Hugnatan came out of retirement to play for the MisOr Mustangs in the
Pilipinas Super League (PSL) President's Cup. Before doing so, he asked permission from Meralco and from PBA commissioner
Willie Marcial. He debuted for MisOr with 10 points. They were eliminated in the first round by the
Davao Occidental Tigers.
San Juan Knights In 2024, with Meralco's blessing, Hugnatan joined the
San Juan Knights in the MPBL. == Coaching career ==