Learners' metacognitive reading strategies support their attempts to draw meaning from texts and to overcome comprehension difficulties. For second language readers, such strategies may compensate for lack of language proficiency while reading. Taking a sample from a country that ranked last in the PISA 2018 reading assessment, this study aims to investigate potential discrepancies in how students evaluate the usefulness of specific reading strategies and how these conceptions are associated with related to the students' reading proficiency. We explored the association between metacognitive reading strategies with reading proficiency by analysing data from a nationally representative sample of 15-year-old students who participated in the PISA 2018 (N = 6591). Awareness of different reading strategies was compared using repeated measures ANOVA; relationships with reading proficiency were examined using regression analysis. Self-reports on metacognitive reading strategies accounted for a significant portion of the variation in Filipino students' English reading proficiency, after controlling for SES, sex, and number of books at home. The reading strategies perceived as most useful were not the most strongly associated with reading proficiency, suggesting that students may not be aware of which reading strategies are helpful in learning to read in English. The results indicate variations in the students' awareness of which strategies aid in their reading comprehension and point to the need to better understand how effective reading strategy instruction is taught to and is engaged by Filipino students in their reading classes.