Not many pro surfers cruise in Waipahu. First off, there’s no beach scene. Secondly, the once quaint, rural plantation town is now an urban sprawl. But there are still patches of Waipahu’s plantation roots and Ilikano accents. There is one such area 22-year-old Dustin Cuizon affectionately calls, “The Farm.” When the ‘Ewa Beach local isn’t traversing the globe surfing for scrip and ‘QS points, he’s at “The Farm” chilling with his uncle and boys. This isn’t the picturesque, Old McDonald kind of farm with the big red barn, tractor and long, green pastures. Negative.

Dustin’s hangout is more of a Tetris setup of rooster coups, animal pens, tin roofs and a beehive bigger than Marge Simpson’s hair. Surprisingly, the flies are minor, but the mosquitoes roll deep and are out for blood. Probably because “The Farm” is right next to a marsh and two clicks away from Pearl Harbor. There’s no cows or horses, but every other kind of livestock is on hand. Ducks. Goats. Cats. Dogs: more poi than taro. Pigs: big enough for two babies lu‘au. And then there’s the poultry injected with more steroids than the NFL.

This is a chicken farm, but it’s more like a boxer’s gym. Where red, black, white and gray roosters train for illegal cock fights every weekend, and roosters’ bloodlines are immortalized in breeding techniques and lifetime earnings. Cuizon and his crew spar their birds here with little leather gloves over the rooster’s spurs. Dustin and his friends hold the birds and let them bite each other to get the roosters in a punchy mood. The exchanges are fast, with fluttering feathers and the boys analyzing each animal’s moves—looking for subtle nuances that will be lucrative at the upcoming illegal derby. Cuizon is partial to gray roosters, especially his favorite bird: Bulletproof.

Bulletproof and the rest of these fierce fighting fowl are a huge part of the regular-foot’s Filipino culture. More importantly, it’s another hustle to put food on the table for his baby girl, Leisha, and high school sweetheart, Megan. Growing up in what Dustin calls, “The Dirty South”(‘Ewa Beach), he witnessed the adults of the community hustle to survive. As a boy, Dustin remembers hearing the roosters crow way before hearing a wave barrel over his head. The only son of Gary Cuizon, Dustin saw his pops laboring as a carpenter and hustling on the side with cock fighting. As a young boy, Dustin decided that blue collar work was for the birds, and set out to make it as a pro surfer. He took notes from surfers like Santos Catian and Sunny Garcia, while maintaining the hustler’s main objective: make that money.

What’s he doing now? 

In 2008, Dustin Cuizon defeated Pedro Henrique (BRA) to claim the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Yumeya Billabong Pro Tahara. 3rd place in the Sponsor me Hawaii WQS August 2009.

Edito “Peso” Alcala surfed his way to a victory during the recently concluded Billabong Cloud 9 Invitational held on September 27, 2008 at General Luna, Siargao Island. His win over defending champion Wade Goodall (Aus) is only the second time a Filipino has won the international event in Siargao, the first being back in the late 90s by Rodolfo “Osot” Alcala.  The international competition held at Cloud 9, is among the most prestigious in Asia and is watched closely by surfers around the world. It attracts high profile professional surfers from Australia, Israel, Japan, Hawaii and France among others.     

It was a dream come true according to Edito because he never expected that he would get a second wave perfectly in time after Goodall’s 17.77 point score. However, he did earn a total of 18.16 points thereby taking first place. He also added that through fervent prayers, an unbelievable divine intervention set in. As he was narrating the victorious story before the media, Edito said that he was ardently praying that he would hit a perfect trick and would excellently get out of the barrel with a tight two-minutes left. To his amazement, as well as to the crowd watching before him, Alcala made it with a standing-ovation performance. He knew he made a good turn when it barreled all the way down the reef and people couldn’t help themselves but to shout joyfully after he flicked off the wave. Alcala, merrily went home with pride and surfed away with $7,500 (USD).