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'Stunt' at Banaue rice terraces heritage site in Philippines draws ire

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The wakeskaters said they were given permission from tribal leaders to to do the stunt. Picture:
Youtube Source: YouTube
PHILIPPINE conservationists hit out Sunday at a wakeskating "stunt'' that took place at an ancient
mountain rice terrace, accusing sponsors of exploiting the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Professional wakeskaters Brian Grubb of the United States and Dominik Preisner of Germany are shown
on a video on YouTube skimming on the waters of the Banaue rice terraces in the Philippines' northern
mountain region.
Wakeskating is similar to the popular water sport wakeboarding but users are not bound to the board.
"I noticed that on the back of the bills here, you could see all these rice terraces and tonnes of water,''
Grubb says in the video, which was uploaded Thursday and already viewed over 241,000 times as of
Sunday.

"It's just a wakeskate paradise but no one even knew it was here.''
Although they said they obtained permission from local tribal leaders, the video quickly spread on social
media, drawing mixed reactions from Filipinos.

"Wakeboarding at the terraces? It is a stunt totally inappropriate to the site. And stunt it is,'' Augusto
Villalon, president of the Heritage Society, told AFP.
"The world heritage property and the local residents should not be exploited.''

Sponsors Red Bull defended the event, saying in a statement attached to the video: "Respect for the
environment was a priority from the beginning of this project!

Professional wakeskater Brian Grubb performing his stunt at the Banaue rice terraces in the Philippines.
Picture: Youtube
"The team has assured that the plants and wildlife have neither been damaged nor disturbed at any
time during the project.

"All agreements have been made together with the locals and under respect of their traditions and
culture.''
But heritage conservation architect Joycelyn Mananghaya said the terraced paddies were carved out on
the slopes of the Ifugao mountain region by ancient people "for the prime purpose of planting rice''.

"If the intent is to attract tourists and assist in improving the economic conditions of the people, it
remains as an activity that is grossly out of place and if encouraged and continues will significantly
remove from it the values by which the site has been inscribed in the world heritage list,'' she said.
Home Entertainment Interviews An Interview With Banaue Rice Terraces Wakeskater Brian Grubb
ENTERTAINMENT
An Interview With Banaue Rice Terraces Wakeskater Brian Grubb
By Gelo Gonzales October 30, 2013 11:00 PM 3494 views
Photos courtesy of Red Bull/Daniel Deak Bardos/Sophia Langner
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Two weeks ago, if you heard the name Brian Grubb, youd probably have to scour Google a bit to find
out that hes a champion wakeskater.

By now however, most of you who regularly check out Facebook and other social media sites would
know Grubb as that dude who wakeskated the countrys most famous man-made structure and our own
Eighth Wonder of the World, the Banaue Rice Terraces.

The video below of the 33-year-old Florida native has been going around online circles the past weekend
since it went public last Friday, October 24. If you havent seen it yet, check it out now; you wont be
sorry!



As is the case with anything of primal awesomeness, reactions ranged from Ang lupit! Gusto ko rin
gawin yan! to Cool, but thats disrespectful!

Heres one reason why its cool:


Now, heres an article from ABS-CBN News about how the stunt has drawn ire from certain sectors.

Well let you decide on your own as to which side of the fence youre on, but as far as Red Bullthe
events sponsoris concerned, they assured everyone that they took the steps necessary to keep the
peace of the place and its people. Red Bulls press release regarding the matter reads as follows:

"Respect for the environment was a priority from the beginning of this project! The team made certain
that the plants and wildlife were neither damaged nor disturbed at any time during the event. All
aspects were agreed with the locals, taking into consideration their traditions and culture."

The stunt is Red Bull and its team of new-age explorers simply sticking to their old-school mantra of
going where no one has gone before. (Or in this case: Wakeskating where no one has wakeskated
before.) And while doing so, the fact that they made it a point to not offend the locals and not harm
their source of livelihood should be a strong enough counter-argument to what some may deem as epic
vandalism.

Brian also shares how the people of Ifugao dealt with his and Red Bull's initial proposal:

"I think when we first got up there and the guys from Red Bull were explaining to them what we were
trying to do, I dont think they really understood at first. But they gave us the permission and let us
come up and, man, the first time I landed that thing, I just hear everyone cheering and there were kids
along the side of the road just going crazy.

"It was definitely something theyve never seen before, and maybe they didnt understand exactly what
it was at first but after we were there for a week, they were definitely into it. And we even taught some
of the guys who were helping us that lived right there at the viewpoint how to get up in the top
pool. Man, they had so much fun. We all got muddy, with all of us crashing in the mud. It was really
cool and they all had big smiles on their faces and it was cool just to spread the love."

For now, we leave all the debates for another day. Instead, we share with you a Q&A with the Red Bull
Man of the Moment himself, Brian Grubb, conducted in a press conference recently. Here hell shed
more light on how the Banaue project began, and just what makes wakeskating different from your
ordinary, workaday wakeboarding.

Click on the next page to begin! (And do check out the gallery below for more of Brian's Banaue
adventures!)

NEXT: How wakeskating is different from wakeboarding

In the Philippines lays the beautifully made Banaue Rice Terraces. It was a result of our elders hard
work, making the mountain into something they can use to plant rice plants and so it has been standing
there since the old times, it is older than me and older than my parents as well. The ones who had made
these terraces were already dead and that the people living here are preserving its beauty.

However, the latest debate has just arisen because of the video circulating the web about this foreign
man skateboarding in the fields of the Banawe Rice Terraces. It has earned likes and as well as dislikes, a
lot of people had commented that it was a good advertisement as it showcased the beautiful Banawe
but more netizens as well as non-netizens showed their grief towards the said video.

As per the foreigners who had made this video, they had asked permission from the municipality as well
as to the locals about the said activity and they received their permission. They also quoted that no
plant was harmed during the said video. However, this statement didnt actually help as the Governor
pleaded that the said video was indeed an exploitation of the natural resources of the Philippines.

My facebook friends have been debating as well regarding this and I would like to use if you agree with
the said video ad or do you think it the other way around?