SURF in the City, the biggest surf competition in the Philippines, is expected to put Borongan City in the national and global spotlight following the successful opening of the event on Monday, December 6, 2021.
“My City is not along the Maharlika highway as other cities are, that is why we do our best for our place and people to be known,” said Borongan Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda in the presence of over 200 national surfing athletes, coaches, and other guests, including Philippine Surfing Championship Tour (PSCT) representative Bjorn Alipayo and Eastern Samar Surfriders Club President Myrel Santos.
“This surfing competition is one big event that we can possibly be known for,” added Agda.
Surf in the City served as the first leg of the 2022 Philippine Surfing Championship Tour.
More than 200 surfers from six regions -- Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Davao, and Caraga Region -- are competing in this year’s event, the first-ever national surfing competition to open in the country during the pandemic era.
The number of participants doubled from when it was first hosted by Borongan City in December 2019.
“Our goal is to raise local athletes who can compete in the international arena. At the same time, we want people to come to Borongan, enjoy our tourist sites, learn surfing, and experience the hospitality of our city,” said Agda.
Surf in the City Chairman Rupert Ambil said the organizers’ highest priority is the public health safety of the participants and the city residents.
“Even if we are hosting a national competition, public health safety remains our top priority given that we are still in the middle of the pandemic. We are strictly monitoring our athletes’ compliance to our minimum health standards, and we’ve encouraged residents to be disciplined in their interactions with our visitors,” Ambil said.
Borongan City has a “low risk” classification for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Aside from surfing, Surf in the City will host other sporting events during the week-long festival from December 6 to 12.
These include beach football, skateboarding, and skimboarding.
On December 5, wakeboarding national team member Carlo dela Torre ran a demonstration of the sport while Olympian Margielyn Didal also gave insights on how to open a skateboarding park in the city.
“While we want to make Borongan the surfing capital of the region, our goal goes beyond one sport. We want to give Borongan youth the option to try whatever sport they like. The City Government pledges to support any local athlete who wants to compete in a national or international event. They will bring pride to the city,” Agda said.
For the organizers, it is all about putting Borongan on the map.
“The city of Borongan and the province of Eastern Samar have a lot to offer in terms of tourism. Of course, surfing is our selling point to potential tourists, but we want them to explore everything that our city has to offer,” Ambil said.
“In the post-Covid recovery, we really see sustainable sports tourism as a way to boost the local economy,” he added.
According to the organizers, Borongan has already committed to hosting the event in December 2022 to close the surfing tour.
Surf in the City is the only surfing competition in the Philippines where competitors get to surf inside the city, along the shores of the iconic Baybay Boulevard of Borongan.
The competition is supported by the Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Partylist, Savepoint Plus Philippines, and Globe Telecom. (SunStar Philippines)