“My dream is for the Masbate Rodeo Festival to be on every Filipino’s bucket list. My dream is for the Rodeo Festival to be top-of-mind among adventure-seeking tourists. My dream is for the world to know and experience the paradise islands of Masbate,” shared Charo Santos-Concio in a speech she delivered at the recently concluded Rodeo Festival 2017 in Masbate City. She was the guest speaker upon the invitation of the Rodeo Masbateno Inc. (RMI).
ABS-CBN’s Chief Content Officer took a break from her busy schedule and traveled all the way to Masbate City to fulfill her dream of becoming a cowgirl. She recounted how she once dreamt of becoming a cowgirl and shared how delighted she was to experience the cowgirl life in Masbate, the home of the Rodeo Festival.
Clad in a cowgirl costume complete with hat and boots, she lauded the people of Masbate for preserving and enriching the rodeo tradition in the province. She also took notice of how picturesque Masbate’s landscape is—a stark contrast from the cityscape that the ABS-CBN’s top woman executive is so accustomed to.
“This is such a unique experience for me. I used to just watch this on TV but it is different when you experience it first-hand,” said Santos-Concio. She even recalled that a cowgirl from Masbate was once featured in Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK), the top-rating drama anthology program she hosts on ABS-CBN. MMK was the first national TV program that featured Masbate’s rodeo tradition.
Now on its 24th year, the Rodeo Festival is an annual celebration showcasing the science of animal handling. One of the main reasons for the longevity of the Festival is its reputation for animal safety.
Judge Manuel “Bebot” Sese, president of the Rodeo Masbateno, Inc. (RMI), shared that the people of Masbate welcomed Charo Santos-Concio warmly because they saw how she genuinely appreciated the province and its rodeo tradition.
“All praises for the province’s national beauty, Charo was also able to visit a ranch and observed some ranch activities,” said Sese. “We at RMI are very thankful to Charo for gracing this year’s Festival. We hope that more and more people will be able to visit and enjoy our province and the Rodeo Festival just like Charodid,” he added.
The main attraction of the annual Festival is the National Rodeo Finals in which students and professionals compete in cattle lassoing wrestling on foot, steer lassoing on horseback, steer wrestling from horseback, casting down, two-person carambola, four-person carambola, bull riding, and load carrying.
All these events originated from day-to-day ranch practices making them authentic and truly anchored on animal welfare and safety.