Barbers: gov’s surfing cup in Siargao to help boost island’s tourism industry
SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 03 October) – Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers has clarified that the provincial government is hosting a national surfing competition in Siargao Island in a bid to boost the local tourism industry from the devastating effects wrought by the two-year COVID-19 pandemic and super typhoon Odette in December 2021, and not because of politicking.
Barbers issued the pronouncement on Sunday during a press conference aired live on Facebook, where he announced the rescheduling of the 1st Governor’s Cup National Surfing Competition.
Instead of starting it today, October 3, Barbers said it will be moved to October 5 to let the earlier surfing contest initiated by the local government unit (LGU) of General Luna to finish the event on October 4.
The 1st Governor’s Cup National Surfing Competition will run from October 5 to October 13.
“I can work with anyone, there is no problem. There is no conflict with the LGU of General Luna,” Barbers said in response to a question about the provincial government’s initiative to hold a national surfing competition on its own.
Barbers and the Matugas couple, General Luna Mayor Sol Matugas and her husband, former governor Francisco Matugas, were at bitter political odds during the local elections last May. Francisco, who was then seeking a third and last term, was defeated by the returning Barbers, who was governor from 2001 to 2007.
In the 2019 gubernatorial race, Barbers lost to Francisco.
Mayor Matugas earlier hosted the 1st Mayor Sol’s National Surfing Competition from September 28 to October 1 at the famous Cloud 9 surfing spot in General Luna, an area that has been the venue of the World Surfing League (WSL) in the past years.
The mayor’s cup, however, was extended until October 4, prompting Barbers to move the governor’s cup to October 5 based on the mutual understanding of the two LGUs.
Both cups are sanctioned by the United Philippine Surfing Association (UPSA) and will serve as qualifying events for the 26th International Siargao Surfing Cup, which will be held from October 15 to 21 also at Cloud 9.
The governor’s cup will be held in Tuwason surfing spot from October 5 to 9 and at Tangbo Point from October 10 to 13 in Sta. Monica town.
It was not clear if the surfers who participated in the mayor’s cup would also be the same competitors in the governor’s cup.
In a press statement on the governor’s Facebook page, it said that the competition was envisioned to help struggling surfers earn maximum points to level up their national rankings after two years of absence of the national competition due to the pandemic and the destruction brought by super typhoon Odette.
It also aims to give the much-needed boost to the tourism industry of Siargao Island by introducing other equal world-class surfing spots outside of Cloud 9.
Mario Semorlan, a media consultant at the governor’s office, said Tuwason Point “has better wave formation than Cloud 9,” while Tangbo was just recently discovered by expert surfers.
He said that Barbers’ vision to boost tourism in Siargao Island is to tap other areas that can be developed as ideal surfing spots, apart from Cloud 9.
Gino Canlas, a member of the USPA board of directors, said they were expecting at least 200 national surfers to join the governor’s cup. (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)
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