Senator Sonny Angara speaks as he sponsored Senate Bill No. 1615, recognizing the municipality of Baler in Aurora province as the “Birthplace of Philippine Surfing” during the plenary session on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Screengrab from Senate of the Philippines YouTube
MANILA, Philippines — A Senate bill is seeking to declare the municipality of Baler in Aurora province as the “Birthplace of Philippine Surfing.”
During Tuesday’s plenary session, Senator Sonny Angara sponsored Senate Bill No. 1615 under Committee Report No. 60.
“Isa sa mga pangunahing dahilan kung bakit bumibisita ang mga turista ay para mag-surfing sa matataas na alon ng Sabang Beach, Cemento Beach, Charlie’s Point, at iba pang mga surfing spots sa probinsya ng Aurora,” Angara said as he sponsored the measure.
(One of the main reasons tourists visit Baler is to surf in the high waves of Sabang Beach, Cemento Beach, Charlie’s Point, and other surfing spots in the province of Aurora.)
While Angara noted several surfing spots in the country, he said Baler is the first place a person surfed in Philippine waves.
READ: Baler: Surfers will go where waves are
“Sa katunayan, punong-puno ang mga kilalang surfing spots ang bansa natin bukod sa Baler tulad ng Pagudpud sa Ilocos Norte, San Juan sa La Union, Daet sa Camarines Norte, Calicoan sa Eastern Samar, General Luna sa Siargao,” he said.
(Our country is filled with famous surfing spots besides Baler, like Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte, San Juan in La Union, Daet in Camarines Norte, Calicoan in Eastern Samar, and General Luna in Siargao.)
“May kanya-kanyang pananaw o opinyon kung alin dito ang pinakamaganda pero namumukod-tangi ang Baler dahil kinikilala ito bilang pinakaunang lugar kung saan may nag-surfing sa mga alon ng Pilipinas at nag-organisa para dito,” the senator added.
(There are various views or opinions about which spots are the most beautiful, but Baler stands out as it is recognized as the first place where a person surfed and organized surfing in the waves of the Philippines.)
Foreign missionaries, Angara said, visited Baler to surf and urged its residents to do the same as early as 1969.
According to the senator, Baler residents further embraced surfing after the film Apocalypse Now by Director Francis Ford Coppola used Baler as a filming location.
READ: Riding high the waves of Baler, cradle of surfing lifestyle
After the filming ended, the movie’s crew members left their surfboards for use by its residents.
Baler residents then started forming local surfing organizations until international surfing groups noticed it, said Angara.
Senate Bill No. 1615 likewise aims to provide Baler with a policy tool from which it can encourage more visitors and bolster its tourism to give jobs to its residents.
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