surfing as a mode of decentralisation

Mang Jojo and Mang Abe are cousins who grew up in San Juan, La Union. Mang Jojo is a full-time surf instructor who dabbles in cockfighting while Mang Abe also teaches surfing part-time and moonlights as a company driver to make ends meet. For an hour of surf lessons, they get P150-200. They have the life I want.

On weekends and holidays, Manilenos troop up north to the small coastal barangay that has made its mark as "the surfing capital of the Philippines". With the surfing boom, other provinces have emerged as popular destinations, casting the spotlight on the locals who have been blessed to be born by the sea.

Geography results in these locals being the best surfers in the country and at the same time washing them in an automatic aura of "cool" particularly for Manila girls wanting to complete their carefully self-constructed bohemian images or for Manila boys wanting alternative credibility. Whatever the reason though, the surfing culture in the Philippines is at least one example of decentralisation and "power" shifting to the provinces and the locals.

I think it would be interesting to explore this aspect of the gaining popularity of surfing in the country, particularly with an eye towards regional awareness and development.