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| (Photo courtesy of Ronald Allan Chua of Karaga Republic) |
This annual event is brought to you by the PSF in partnership with the Provincial Government of Surigao del Norte, House of Representatives and Local Government Unit of General Luna.
Siargao's annual surfing cup kicks off on September 17
This annual event is brought to you by the PSF in partnership with the Provincial Government of Surigao del Norte, House of Representatives and Local Government Unit of General Luna.
Siargao's local surfer wins in the Maldives Open 2014 surfing tourney
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| Nilbie Blancada (red jersey) wins in the Maldives Open 2014 surfing tournament. Photo courtesy of James O'donnell. |
In the Women’s Division final of the inaugural event of Maldives Open 2014, it was 2013 ASC Women’s Champion Rina Kitazawa from Japan getting the win over local favorite and resort surf guide Amy Kotch (USA), Cloud Nine’s Nilbie Blancada (PHL), and 5-time Indonesian Women’s Champion Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea (INA). She admitted that she didn’t expect to win the event, as the wave is a left and she is a naturalfooter. “I didn’t think I would win, as there was Amy and Bonne who were goofyfooters and they are such good and experienced surfers, much older than me. But the wave is so good here and I got a few nice waves, so in the end I could win,” she explained.
This Maldives 2014 event was brought to you by Asian Surfing Championships (ASC) in cooperation with the Maldives Bodyboarding Associatio. This ASC Grade 3 event, with a total prize purse of $15,000 over the three divisions of Men’s Open, Women’s, and Bodyboarding, took place from September 3-7 at Lohis Point.
Lohis Point at the Adaaran Select Hudhuran Fushi Resort is a machine-like left-hand wave that peels perfectly down the coral reef for often hundreds of meters, and has been the site of ASP World Qualifying Series (the world’s top professional surfing organization) events in the past due to its quality, consistency, and accessibility. Offering up barrel sections as well as steep wall sections for carves, lip hacks, and the occasional punt section, this wave will allow the competitors to display their full repertoire of maneuvers during their heats, and often all on the same wave.
Siargao women surfers win in the 7th Siargao Int'l Surfing Cup
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| The winners (L-R) - Kim Woolridge (Australia), Nildie Retenbach (Philippines) and Manette Alcala (Philippines) |
Whopping the US$5,000 prizemoney with trophies were three women surfers from Siargao Island plus an Australian surfer, Kim Woolridge, who was last year's defending.
Champion: Nelvie Blancada (Philippines)
1st RU: Manette Alcala (Philippines)
Equal 3rd RU: Nildie Retenbach (Philippines) and Kim Woolridge (Australia)
This 5-day event was organized by the Philippine Surfing Federation (PSF), Local Government of General Luna, Provincial Government of Surigao del Norte and Philippine House of Representatives for the first district of Surigao del Norte. (Photos by Wilmar Melindo)
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Guide to Siargao for Non Surfers
If you are non surfer then try find another Siargao attraction like white beaches, enchanting lagoons, caves, sand bars, coral reefs, bizarre rock formations, exotic wildlife, endless rice fields, waterfalls, a large mangrove forest reserve and much more...
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| Photo Credit: Just One Way Ticket |
Video Credit: Just One Way Ticket
Siargao Map - Click here
Siargao Accommodation - Click here
Siargao Girls Int'l Surfing Cup is set on May 6 to 10
The Municipality of General Luna and the Philippine Surfing Federation (PSF) are inviting you to join or witness this year's Siargao Girls International Surfing Cup which will be held at Cloud 9 (the world's number 8 surf spot) in General Luna, Siargao Island, Philippines, from May 6 to 10, 2014. For more information, email us at zenpallugna@yahoo.com.ph.
Surigao del Norte hosts inaugural Tourism Summit
Surigao City --- Building on the momentum of recent growth in visitors numbers to the Province of Surigao del Norte [more than doubled (134.5%) its tourist arrivals compared last year, from 43,000 to 103,000 according to DOT Caraga Report], the provincial government through the initiative of Governor Sol Matugas hosted the inaugural Tourism Summit last February 24, 2014 at the Gateway Hotel in Surigao City. The summit, which revolved on the theme, Reshaping the tourism industry towards Baong Surigao, gathered around 200 travel industry leaders to hear insights from the invited tourism experts.
Governor Matugas said that this summit was just the first among the series of meetings to be organized by the Provincial Tourism Office to generate the inputs of both private and public sectors to develop a comprehensive program for tourism for the next five years.
Tourism Marketing Consultant Zeny Pallugna said that the tourism landscape of Surigao del Norte will be reshaped through the development of a new tourism hub to spread the benefit of tourism to the mainland Municipalities. She recommended Bucas Grande Island as the new tourism hub for the province, capitalizing on the development of a new jump-off point to Bucas Grande Island, which is at Municipality of Claver. By doing this, the tourism potential of its neighboring Municipalities such as Guigaquit, Bucuag and Placer will also be developed.
According to Pallugna, Bucas Grande is a stand alone destination that can attract both foreign and local tourists by just capitalizing on its core product, the jelly fish lake. In the Philippines, there are only two areas which have non-stingy jelly fish --- Coron in Palawan and Bucas Grande. A simple improvement of its tourism center and development of unique tour packages, such as habal-habal tour, birdwatching tour, jelly lake tour and cultural experience tour would be a big boost to the island's tourism industry.
She further recommended to develop scuba diving as a new tourism product for the province. Cagtinae Reef in the Municipality of Malimono is among the dive sites frequently visited by a group of Surigao divers. The reef is about 30-minutes from Surigao City by private car.
Another untapped tourism products are the ESL or English as a Second Language and geotourism. Pallugna mentioned that ESL is also a good tourism product to be developed by the tourism office of Surigao City. The city has a number of universities and colleges which can be tapped for this program. The municipalities of Dapa and Del Carmen can also look into this ESL market to boost its tourist arrivals.
The Municipality of Del Carmen is currently offering geotourism and other Municipalities can also do this. Geotourism is a huge market, with around 55.1 million geotourists around the globe who are mostly concentrated in New York, well-off, educated and interested on local culture, local products and community interaction.
Meanwhile, Tourism Directors Letty Tan and Maria Patria Aurora Roa presented Caraga Region's tourism statistics and shared the tourism success stories of Cebu and Bohol, respectively.
The success of the Tourism Summit was through the effort of the Provincial Tourism Office of Surigao del Norte, headed by Art Cruje.
Siargao's Dedon Island Resort ranks #16 as among the "21 Amazing Hotels You Need to Visit Before You Die"
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| Dedon Island Resort in Siargao Island, Philippines (www.dedonisland.com) |
I have
been traveling around the Philippines since mid-1990s but I fell in love with
Siargao Island, the moment I step on it --- the smiles and warmth of the local
people and the beautiful scenery (sun, sand, sea and surf). My love for
surfing, outdoor activities and Siargao Island, got me involved in several
tourism activities, programs and projects in the Island. It gave me the
opportunity to visit the Island more often in a year and I felt like I'm a
local resident there.
Since
mid-90's, together with the local government and tourism stakeholders in
Siargao, we worked together to promote the Island's tourism assets. The
concerted efforts of the different sectors in the Island has been paid off, as
the Island received several accolades from the international tourism
publications.
This year
(2014), My Science Academy published a list of 21 Amazing Hotels You Need to
Visit Before You Die and Siargao's
Dedon Island Resort ranks number 16 among
the 21 amazing hotels in the world. (http://myscienceacademy.org/2014/02/11/21-amazing-hotels-you-need-to-visit-before-you-die/).
1.
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| Ascher Cliff Hotel in Switzerland (www.myswitzerland.com) |
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| Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finland (www.kakslauttanen.fi) |
3.
Ladera Resort, St. Lucia (Website: ladera.com)
4.
The Manta Resort, Zanzibar
5.
Rayavadee Krabi, Thailand (Website: rayavadee.com)
6.
Shangri La, Paris (Website: shangri-la.com)
7.
Hotel Ristorante Grotta Palazzese Polignano a Mare, Italy
(Website: grottapalazzese.it)
8.
Conrad Maldives, Rangali Island (Website:
conradhotels3.hilton.com)
9.
Panchoran Retreat, Bali (Website: panchoran-retreat.com)
10. Hotel Ubud Hanging
Gardens, Indonesia (Website: hanginggardensubud.com)
11. Attrap Reves Hotel, France
(Website: attrap-reves.com)
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| Attrap Reves Hotel in France (www.attrap-reves.com) |
12. Katikies
Hotel-Oia, Greece (website: katikies.com)
13. Hotel Le
Sirenuse, Amalfi Coast, Italy (Website: sirenuse.it)
14. Ice Hotel
in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden (Website: icehotel.com)
15. The
Cambrian Hotel, Adelboden, Switzerland (Website: thecambrianadelboden.com)
16. Dedon
Island Resort, Philippines (Website:
dedonisland.com)
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| Dedon Island Resort in Siargao Island, Philippines (www.dedonisland.com) |
17. Home
Stead Resort (Website:
homesteadresort.com)
18. Villa Escudero,
Philippines (Website: villaescudero.com)
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| Villa Escudero Coconut Plantation Resort in the Philippines (www.villaescudero.com) |
19. Hotel-Restaurant
Öschinensee, Switzerland (Website: oeschinensee.ch)
20. Astarte Suits Hotel,
Greece (Website: astartesuites.gr)
21. Montana Magica Lodge,
Chile (Website: huilohuilo.com)
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| Montana Magica Lodge in Chile (www.huilohuilo.com) |
The Dedon Island Resort in Siargao Island earlier received a prestigious recognition from an International Traveller, a widely read international magazine, as No. 37 among the 100 Best Hotels and Resorts in the world.
Siargao’s popularity can be traced back in early 1990s when a famous surf photographer and writer, John Callahan, discovered Cloud 9 surf break (named after the local no-melt chocolate bars) and published an article about his surf expedition in the island. It was also recognized by CNN.Go as world’s ten best surf spot for two consecutive years (2012-2013).
The discovery of Cloud 9 as a world-class surfing destination stimulated tourist arrivals and tourism investors, making it the number one source of international visitor arrivals in Caraga Region. (By Zeny C. Pallugna)
Philippines announces underwater shootout festival on December 4 to 8
Manila, Philippines -- The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) in cooperation with members of the Underwater Macro Photographers Group (UWMP) will launch its first ever international underwater (UW) shootout in Anilao, a quiet seaside community in Batangas two hours away South of Manila, from December 4 to 8 this year.
The PDOT is setting its sights on promoting the
Philippines as a premier UW macro photography destination in Asia and enticing
more foreign UW photographers to engage their hobby in the Philippines through
the holding of this event in Anilao, “one of the best places for underwater
photography in the world”, according to Christian Vizl, a multi-award winning
underwater photographer.
This joint project, entitled “Anilao Underwater Photo
Competition Festival”, is open to both foreign and local UW photographers and
fun divers for an entry fee of Php1000 or US$20 per participant inclusive of a
4-day dive pass, an event shirt and invitation to hosted welcome and farewell
dinners with cultural entertainment.
Winners will
receive a minimum total of US$10,000 worth of valuable prizes including dive trips
to the country’s best dive sites in Cebu, Bohol and Anilao through the support
of Tourism Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), Prestige Sport Malaysia, Cebu
Pacific Airlines and other partner dive resorts in the Philippines
Simultaneous
with the underwater macro photography contest, fun dives will also be organized
for dive fanatics, as well as the conduct of seminars on “Dive Photography” during
the festival. World renowned UW photographers (i.e., Koji Nakamura, President
of Japan Underwater Films; Yorko Summer, dive travel
journalist; Christian Vizl, current world champion in underwater
photography; Ken Thongpila, multi-award winning underwater photographer and
founder of Underwater Macro Photographers Club; and Michael Aw, one of the
world’s most influential nature photographers) will grace the festival as board
of judges and seminar speakers.
Divers can sign up and book their local travel
arrangements for this international UW shootout at phdiveteam@gmail.com. Interested divers
can also register at https://www.regonline.com/anilaounderwateruwphotocompetitionfestival or visit the
event facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Anilaouwphotocompetitionbydot. PDOT partner
resorts in Anilao are also offering special dive promo packages of as low as
US$499 for a 4 nights/5 days dive package inclusive of 6 boat dives, fullboard
meals, accommodation (twin sharing arrangement), air tanks and dive master.
All the
participating divers will surely say “It’s More Fun in the Philippines ” with the opportunity to win
fantastic prizes from local sponsors during the awarding ceremony on December 8
at seven o’clock in the evening at Acacia Resort and Dive Center
Siargao locals post highest scores in pumping Cloud Nine perfection
Siargao Locals Post Highest Scores in Pumping Cloud Nine Perfection and Top Seed Raditya Rondi Eliminated on Day One of the 19th Annual Siargao International Surfing Cup
(by: Tim Hain)
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| Carlito Nogalo |
This is link for Siargao Event Minisite, http://www.asiansurfingtour.com/events/siargao
you check all news, photos, videos, and result here.
24 September 2013, Siargao Island-Philippines: Living up to its reputation as one of the world’s best righthand barreling waves, Cloud 9 delivered solid 5-6 foot perfection today to start the ASC 6 star Men’s Open Division of the 19th Annual Siargao International Surfing Cup, with the Siargao locals showing off their tube riding virtuosity by posting the day’s highest scores and on the way eliminating the ASC’s number one ranked surfer, Raditya Rondi from Indonesia.
At least six surfboards and as many legropes fell victim to the crushing forces of Cloud 9 today, a wave that many compare to the famous Backdoor of Hawaii’s North Shore Pipeline.
Rounds One and Two, as well as two heats of Round 3 were completed today before competition was called off due to the afternoon low tide.
Round One got underway just after 6:00 am this morning, with 32 of the 48 competitors in hot pursuit of a heat win, which would propel them directly into a Round 3 berth where they would meet up with the ASC’s highest ranked surfers and the four finalists from last week’s Siargao Cup Nationals competition.
The first highlight of Round One was Siargao local Carlito Nogalo putting on an impressive display of competitive surfing during his 20 minute heat, posting 7.67 and 8.17 scores on his best two waves to earn the praise of ASC Head Judge Mark “Boonga” Clift, who from the microphone told the other competitors, “Here is a surfer who knows how get points from the judges. With great combinations of aggressive but smooth maneuvers all under control, this is how you earn points and win heats!” His final combined two wave heat score was 15.83 points out of a possible 20.
15 year old Marama Tokong put that advice to work in the very next heat, dropping in behind the peak in triple overhead waves to score barrel rides of 7.50 and then a whopping 9.17 to easily win his heat with a total score of 16.67. His presence, lack of hesitation, and relaxed form in the barrel is nothing short of amazing for a kid this young with no formal coaching and training.
The Alipayo name is synonymous with inspired surfing here on the island of Siargao, and today it was cemented to allow no room for doubt. Heat 6 of Round One saw Philmar Alipayo post 8.0 and 7.27 point scores to win his heat with 15.27 points, and in Heat 7 it was a battle between Paul John Alipayo and Pete Pete Alipayo for the win, with Paul John besting Pete Pete by just 1.43 points.
Paul John on his backhand posted the day’s highest single wave score of 9.8 points out of a possible 10, an almost perfect wave score for a super deep barrel where he was actually surfing behind the foam ball in the middle section of the wave before getting spit out the end section. His final point tally was 17.47 points, the highest heat score of the day.
And though Pete Pete was relegated to second spot with his worthy heat score of 16.03 points, he made the most of his Round 2 opportunity by scoring first a 6.83 and then a massive 9.5 to finish with a 16.33 point total, far head of his closest competitor who only managed a total of 6.6 points! Remarkable consistency in his heats scores, both being in the 16 point range.
Special for this event in order to give the non-seeded surfers the opportunity to surf twice during the competition, the heat winners from Round 1 advanced directly into Round 3, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers competed again in Round 2, where again only the 1st place finisher advance into Round 3.
The Round Two highlight was Siargao local Donesio “Dodo” Espijon winning his heat and ticket into Round 3 by getting deep backside barrel rides, posting first an 8.0 and then an 8.83 for a total heat score of 16.83.
In the first heat of Round 3, it was local Mark Cannon winning the heat and Osot Alcala coming in second to eliminate current ASC number one seed and two time ASC Open Champion Raditya Rondi.
In the final heat of the day, Heat 2 of Round 3, Indonesian Pepen Hendrik from Bali won his heat despite having sustained a significant injury in an early morning warmup session, hitting the reef with his face and puncturing his lower lip and chin, requiring stitches. “I guess I was too relaxed and maybe still half asleep this morning,” said Hendrik. “I just saw there was great waves so I didn’t stretch or anything, just paddled right out. I was kind of lazy paddling for that first wave and it just slipped out from under me. I hit the reef for just a second and then it sucked me up and I was almost standing up in waist deep water with blood pouring from my chin. It happened really fast. It was hard out there as my chin and lip still hurt, but I want to keep surfing so I had to try to win,” he explained.
According to tomorrow’s swell forecast the current swell is predicted to be even larger than today and then peaking on Thursday morning, we should see more exciting action and the finish of the Men’s Open on Thursday. Women’s action will commence once the swell conditions are suitable, possibly as soon as Friday but most likely on Saturday.
Round 3 action is scheduled to resume tomorrow with a 6:30 am start, so look for Asia’s best surfers to put on quite a show in the pumping Cloud 9 waves on Siargao Island!
A link to the video clip of today’s action will be included in tomorrow’s press release, or you can check later atwww.asiansurfingtour.com and look up ASC Tour on Facebook.
The 19th Annual Siargao Surfing Cup is sponsored by the Philippines Department of Tourism, the Province of Surigao Del Norte, the Municipality of General Luna, Cloud 9 Boardriders, Surf Angels, Reef Beach Houses, San Miguel Brewery Inc., Stoked Inc, Fluidsurf, Rip Curl, Siargao Bleu Resort, Nature Spring, Sagana Resort, The Boardwalk, Ocean 101, and DT General Merchandise, with media support by TV 5 and My Life On Board, organized by the Philippine Surfing Federation and sanctioned by the Asian Surfing Championships.
.jpg) |
| Dionesio "Dodo" Espijon |
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| Early morning at Cloud 9 |
.jpg) |
| John Mark "Marama" Tokong |
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| John Mark "Marama" Tokong |
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| The perfect Cloud 9 |
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| (L-R) Arkipo and Petepete Alipayo |
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| John Paul Alipayo |
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| Philmar Alipayo |
Asian Surfing Championships
Tim Hain – Media, Marketing and Communications
Tel: +628123606674
Philippine Surfing Federation
Zeny Pallugna – Secretary General
Email: zenpallugna@yahoo.com.ph
Siargao Local Nilbie Blancada Wins 19th Annual Siargao International Surfing Cup Women’s Division Title at Cloud Nine over Her Sister Nildie Rietenbach
When the horn blew it was 20 year old Nilbie Blancada who will take home the $2,500 USD first place prize money as well as 3,000 ASC championship points towards her race for the 2013 Asian Surfing Championship Women’s Division trophy. This is her second victory in as many years at her home break, as she was also last year’s Roxy Siargao International Women’s Surfing Cup winner, besting Australian ex-pro surfer Kim Wooldridge in her first ever ASC sanctioned women-on-women final.
Both women put on the best show of the entire girls event, as in no other heat and any of the other contestants charged so deep and pulled into any significant barrel rides. The highlight of the final was when Nilbie pulled into a solid 4 footer and raced down to the double up section to pull in and then fight her way out of the closing end section, then blasted a turn to finish off, earning her 9 points (out of a possible 10) from the judges and the high score of the day. Older sister Nilbie out the back raised her arms and clapped for her sister when she heard the score, but then proceeded to answer back with a nice little barrel of her own a few moments later.
ASC Head Judge Mark “Boonga” Clift applauded the action, citing that it was the first heat of the entire women’s event where the women were charging Cloud 9, and that with each of the competitors getting barrels one after the other, this was indeed something special to be witnessing.
Nilbie went on to post another nice barrel ride for 7 points, and right behind her again came Nildie with an amazing backhand barrel riding performance for a well-deserved 8.25 score. At the buzzer the final scores were only half a point different, with Nilbie winning with a score of 16.00 points for her two best waves, and Nildie scoring 15.50 for her two best waves. Truly the most exciting women’s final to date on the ASC tour.
At the start of the day Nildie was reportedly ill, so when asked about that she explained, “I got bad sick last night, and so this morning I was really tired. But little by little I got feeling better. I kept telling myself I just had to go on, and after getting a few good waves I was ok.”
And about her win, she replied, “I really wanted to win this event, and I think my sister gave me the good waves. This is the first time I’ve ever surfed in a final with my sister, and it was fun to be out there just the two of us. It was like a free surf with just us, and that doesn’t happen very often. I’m so happy to win and to be out there with my sister.”
And what is she going to do with her $2,500 cash prize money? “I’m going to build a house!” she replied.
And Nildie was just as happy with her sister’s win, saying, “I really wanted my sister to win, and I’m so happy that she did. I’m getting older and though I still like competing and am still surfing good, there is no pressure on me. I was so happy when she got that big score, and I didn’t really even want to catch any more waves after that. But that one came through and said ‘oh no, what should I do?’ but I couldn’t help it, I just had to take it. I’m so happy that I made it to the final with her, this is the best feeling that I ever had.”
Nildie is the mother of two and runs the Siargao Beach Inn with her husband Rico, but still finds time to surf everyday and has the distinction of being known at the best female surfer in the Philippines for years now.
The day begin with Nilbie crushing ASC number one ranked Rita Kitazawa from Japan in Semifinal One by a score of 13.50 to 6.55, and Nildie took down 5 time Indonesian Women’s surfing champion Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea in Semifinal Two by a score of 15.65 to 10.50.
A total of 13 women surfers joined in the event, representing the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, Indonesia, and Greece.
ASC 6-Star Women's Division Final results:
1. Nilbie Blancada (PHL)
2. Nildie Rietenbach (PHL)
3. Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea (INA)
3. Rita Kitazawa (JPN)
There will be a video clip of the final available tomorrow, but in the meantime here is the Men’s Final video clip from yesterday:
Video
Tomorrow evening will be the closing ceremony and prize giving at the nearby town of General Luna starting at 6 pm, so you don’t want to miss that if you are nearby.
For results and other information, check www.asiansurfingtour.com and look up ASC Tour on Facebook.
The 19th Annual Siargao Surfing Cup is sponsored by the Philippines Department of Tourism, the Province of Surigao Del Norte, the Municipality of General Luna, Cloud 9 Boardriders, Surf Angels, Reef Beach Houses, San Miguel Brewery Inc., Stoked Inc, Fluidsurf, Rip Curl, Siargao Bleu Resort, Nature Spring, Sagana Resort, The Boardwalk, Ocean 101, and DT General Merchandise, with media support by TV 5 and My Life On Board, organized by the Philippine Surfing Federation and sanctioned by the Asian Surfing Championships.
Asian Surfing Championships
Tim Hain – Media, Marketing and Communications
Tel: +628123606674
Email: tim.hain@asiansurfingtour.com
Philippine Surfing Federation
Zeny Pallugna – Secretary General
Email: zenpallugna@yahoo.com.ph
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