Cloud Nine incident: Filipino surfers refute Australian surfer’s story

MANILA, Philippines – An incident in the popular surf spot of Siargao involving a foreign surfer has the Philippine surfing community up in arms over what they say are lies and false accounts of what really happened. 

On September 21, Brent Symes, a surfer from Queensland, Australia, was attacked by locals in a surfing competition held in Cloud Nine in Siargao. Alexander Haro, senior editor of The Inertia, wrote that Symes was beaten with bats and bottles after he supposedly drifted into the way of competitors.

As Symes emerged from the water after hearing an announcement, he said he “was mauled by at least five local guys with bats and bottles.” He also said his board was destroyed and he sustained cuts on his feet. On the incident he commented, “I believe I did nothing wrong and the incident was a misunderstanding by local radicals. I never impeded any competitors and I was unaware I was offending locals.”

Aside from The Inertia, the supposed attack was reported on the Gold Coast Bulletin and Surfing Life.

Witnesses from the local Philippine surfing community, however, tell a different story.

Elaine Abonal, a spectator during the competition, wrote on her Facebook page: “Newspapers in other countries, especially Australia, are getting their facts wrong and giving the Philippines a bad name.”

Violation of rules

One of the main rules of competitive surfing is that non-competitors, or free surfers, should avoid the contest area.

According to Abonal, Symes paddled out during the break and stayed there even when the announcers were asking people to return to shore. He claimed to have permission to be a water spectator during the heat so he stayed.

However, Abonal said Symes was too close to the competition area and was catching waves along with the other competitors. “So he wasn’t acting as a spectator,” she added. Symes asserted that he could hear the public address (PA) system, but to him it “just sounded like [people] screaming for barrels.”

Abonal refuted this saying people could hear the announcements from the water.

Caught in photos

Surfing photographer Sky Chang said he saw the whole incident and sent photos to Rappler that appear to show Symes purposely did not leave the competition area.

“The competition started at 12:17 pm, there were three surfers take (sic) their wave and paddle back to the competition area from 12:17 to 12:22 pm. From this photo we can (see) he don’t want to leave the competition area,” said Chang who added that the 5 minutes had already lapsed in the competition when the photo was taken. 

Chang also said that from 12:22:55 to 12:36:58, Symes went catch some waves. “Brent Symes paddled out to the competition area not only once. Just like this photo, Brent Symes tried to paddle out again.” 

The beating

Symes then tried to return to shore, which is when he claimed 5 people attacked him with “sawn off bamboo and bottles that were to be broken on [the] reef used as a knife [sic].” He then told reporters he was beaten, his board destroyed, and his feet scratched. “I thought I was going to die,” he told Gold Coast Bulletin.

Abonal denied any broken bottles were used to attack Symes. Dencio Dizon, another spectator, told Surfing Life that “[Symes] wiped out and his board flew away, as he wasn’t wearing a leg rope. That sparked a few local boys to jump in the water, running after him and his board. A few punches were thrown and his board ended up broken.”

The scratches on Symes’ feet which he said were from his attempt to defend himself were reef cuts which were “normal and [happened] everyday in Cloud Nine,” Abonal said. She also saw he “looked unharmed” and was also “walking around freely” in the days he said he locked himself in his room.

Reports from Mail Online and Gold Coast Bulletin said Filipino police had arrested and charged those involved in the incident, but Abonal said she received word from Sagana Resort owner Gerry Degan that the local surfers were neither arrested nor charged.

Negative light

For Dizon and Abonal, the incident and reports that followed put the local surfing scene in a bad light.

Dizon said it “kind of took away the limelight and stole the show from the finals of our national competition.” Abonal added, “To be depicted falsely in international news was shocking to me [and] everyone who saw what happened – both foreigners and locals.” – Rappler.com

Bea Orante is a Rappler intern.

Photos by Sky Chang Photography-QUBI Taiwan