San Fernando, La Union-based national surfer Roger Casugay doubts if he can leave the country to receive his award.
With La Union now under modified enhanced community quarantine, the 26-year-old Casugay feels that it is unlikely for him to travel anywhere outside the province.
The awarding rites are set to be held tentatively on Oct. 27 in Monaco.
“Wala pa po akong planong lumabas ng bansa. Kasi mahirap na. Baka hindi na ako makabalik,” said Casugay in an online interview.
For now, biking around his twon when not surfing and dabbling into the trading of bicycle parts are among the activities that Casugay is engaging.
This, he says, will do for now, while the surfing community waits for the situation in the province to return to normal.
Casugay got international recognition some eight months after saving a fellow competitor’s life in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The International Committee on Fair Play recently voted to give him the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy.
The trophy has been awarded to numerous athletes since 1965 when they stop in the middle of their own performances to aid a fellow competitor, who is in trouble.
Casugay said his coaches in the national team are now in touch with authorities concerning his award.
Among those reaching out to the award-giving body are fellow surfers Luke Landrigan and Ian Saguan.
And they are doing it through the United Philippine Surfing Association.