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Subaru Club of the Philippines
Pure performance
The Subaru Club of the Philippines is growing fast. We meet them and find out why
Words by Kristine Garcia; Photography by Charles Custodio and Hazel Beltran
"I have the Subarus ready just for you," says Jeff Roxas Chua the night before our shoot. "We'll drive either to Subic or Tagaytay, if that's okay."
At eight in the morning, the skies are looking perfect and we are headed to Tagaytay. "Let's keep the show running until you have enough material," suggests Erich Lingad, chairman of the Subaru Club of the Philippines. He is confident and friendly. "You'll have great pictures even before we get there," he assures us.
Club member Raffy David, also cousin to Top Gear's Dinzo Tabamo, is eager to convince our lady photographer to hop into Erich's car. "Hold out your camera from there," Raffy says as he points to a Forester with a sunroof.
Attending the shoot are club members Jeff Roxas Chua in his '06 Impreza WRX STI; convoy leader Erich Lingad in his '06 Forester 2.5 XT; Raffy David in his '07 Impreza WRX STI; Niko Sunga in his '06 Impreza WRX; Paolo Lino in his '98 Legacy GT; Francis Hugo in his '96 Legacy GT; Monch Gupil in his '06 Forester 2.5 XT; Celso Alincastre in his '07 Forester 2.5 XT; Captain Joey Villanueva with his lovely wife accompaying him in their white '07 Forester 2.0 X; Barry Ong in his GC8 Impreza; Edward Angtuaco in his red GC8; and Vince Tagle, who wouldn't have missed the gathering despite the absence of his blue '08 WRX hatch, still in the garage for repairs.
Subaru Club of the Philippines was founded in September 2007 by Erich Clifford and Dominique Certeza. The club website (www.subaruclub.ph) had been put up first even before the actual club came into being. The site was generating a number of participants and, interestingly, more Subaru owners came together after the launch of the 2008 Impreza.
"The new car was really something to talk about," says Vince Tagle. Before, Subaru owners would go to other existing websites of various car organizations for information and updates. "But this time, our site became the 'official' one. Even our first EB sometime early this year was unintentional. Nineteen Subaru owners just showed up and we were pleased with the number."
From then on, the club would meet weekly (sometimes as often as thrice a week), usually at Petron Alabang or in Makati. Members would check on what's new with one pal's car setup. They say that they don't limit themselves to discussions about their Subaru rides, but that is not really the case. As one member puts it: "We meet because we enjoy looking at our cars."
The Subaru Club of the Philippines has close ties with Motor Image Pilipinas—the local distributor of Subaru vehicles. This club's commitment to the brand results in some perks, but for most of them, owning a Subaru is already enough. Some members share that the joy of owning a WRC-inspired ride is beyond words. No wonder they enjoy just 'looking'.
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Top Gear Philippines - June 2008
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