By JADEN ALBERTO

Intern

Decorated Filipino surfer Rogelio “Jay-R” Esquivel Jr. conquered the waves once again and completed a three-peat in the men’s edition of the World Surf League’s La Union International Pro Longboard Qualifying Series held from Jan. 20 to 22 in Urbiztondo.

The La Union native bested Filipino rival Penny Ventura in the finals of the event with a score of 15.67 out of the 20 possible points as opposed to Ventura’s 14.84. 

Only being held for its third year, the event saw 32 professional surfers from across the region compete for a shot at reaching the Asia region qualifiers for the 2025 WSL Longboard Tour. 

After ending the 2024 season as fourth in the world rankings, Esquivel hopes to keep his momentum alive and qualify once again for the World Longboard Tour as he was the first Filipino to do so. 

“I'm super stoked to win this event once again. It's been an awesome Finals Day, and this is a big win for the Philippines. This week has been extra special because I can see the local surfers improving year on year, as well as all of the other surfers from the Asia region,” said the 28-year-old. 

"I love to watch them all surf here on my home break. This is a great start to the year for me and also for the Filipino community. Hopefully, this momentum keeps going,” he added.