Rodeo Masbateno in Masbate
Rodeo Masbateno is the Philippines' premier cowboy festival, held annually in Masbate since 1993 to celebrate the province's cattle-ranching economy, earning Masbate its official designation as the Rodeo Capital of the Philippines in 2002. The festival grew out of an initiative by local farmers and merchants seeking to revive a struggling cattle industry.
Masbate's cattle industry has deep roots, stretching back to Spanish colonization, when livestock raising took hold across the island's grasslands.