In 2007, Bong Castillo, a Filipino-American angler from Cebu, presented Francisco “Lalo” Matugas, then a congressman, an idea to make Siargao, particularly the small quaint town of Pilar, a venue for a game fishing tournament. He convened three of the nation’s top sports fishing clubs – the Philippine Game Fishing Foundation, the Philippine Sports Fishing Club and the Silver Jack Fishing Club of Manila – and along with then Pilar mayor Lucio Gonzales, they organized and turned the simple concept into a big event. Siargao is also situated on the edge of the second deepest ocean trench in the world and faces the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It is considered at par with similarly exciting fishing destinations in Santa Ana and San Vicente in Cagayan Valley up North. The difference is that the weather in Siargao is more predictable throughout the year and therefore more suited for the sport from April to October.

Villar, J. (2017, April 23). Reeling in the big one. Philippine Star, p. F5.