TAN BROTHERS ARE ON A ROLL

CARREO by Rolando S. Luzong

Peoples Tonight (August 25, 2010)

TAN BROTHERS ARE ON A ROLL

They first hit the limelight in 2006 after they won the championship of the annual Bakbakan National 9-Stag Derby and with that achievement they were acclaimed as one of Thunderbird’s top endorsers representing Mindanao.

Their success was followed with a string of triumphs, but with flooding problems in their farm coupled with occurrences of diseases and other health problems, the brothers’ record soured.

Last year, deciding that they had enough, Jun, Bobot & Bong Tan transferred their gamefowl breeding operation to Skyline, Cataluña Grande, Davao City which is a lot higher in elevation. I had the privilege of visiting their old farm twice last year. Last August 4 during our Labuk-Tusik (Thunderbird’s segment in the popular sabong-magazine show Tukaan) shoot in Davao, we had the opportunity to interview the Tan Brothers again, this time in their new farm. The first thing I noticed was the activeness and beauty of their cockerels as well as the first set of corded stags which are A-Cup banded.

At that time, the Tans already scored 3 out of 3 in the 2^nd leg of the A-Cup Circuit – a 7 stag derby. By August 7 when we were set to fly back to Manila at 10:00 p.m., we passed by the Mindanao Gamefowl Breeders Association for an interview of the group. The eldest of the Tan brothers, Engr. Jun was there and invited us to watch the fights later because they will be fighting for the championship. We did not made it to the pit because we were just too tired already and had to prepare for our flight.

In Manila, the next morning, when I turned on my cellphone, there was a text from Bobot that relayed the good news “Sir Lando, champion tayo”.

I was happy, but I was not surprised.

What  surprised me was when I got another text from Bobot about  five days later, “Sir Lando champion ulit tayo, 5-stag naman”.

It was followed by a call. Bobot was ecstatic when he told me that they will be gunning for the Stagfighter of the Year in the fourth and final leg of the circuit set at the end of August. Currently, they have an accumulated score of 11 points with the leader posting 12. Had they joined the first leg, they could well be in first place already. However, with a 4-stag clean up derby to contend with and just a point behind, the Tan Brothers are well on their way to reassert their might...once more.

PITY THE BUYERS

In today’s immense popularity of sabong, a lot of unsuspecting buyers looking for “good but affordable” roosters usually fall into the mercy of unscrupulous breeders and rooster-peddlers who will say anything and claim anything just to convince their victims to buy the gamebirds they are vending.

They would say such things that would make a buyer dream of big winnings or a championship, but the truth is these are all web of lies woven to trap the victim and be devoured later.

One may claim that what he’s selling are winners – there are some who would intentionally cut the bird as if the rooster was already fought and won; or they are offspring of a derby winner or a winning line; or were bred out of imported broodstocks from a well-known American breeder. One may even show a photo of him with an American cocker claiming he got birds from the guy. There are even others who would call their roosters with such attractive-sounding names like say 30-Second Line or Giant-Killer strain etc.

There are also importers of birds from the States who would go around peddling their livestock claiming that he’s the only one given access to these birds by the American breeder. Unfortunately, despite having all those supposedly superior bloodlines at his disposal, the chicken peddler has  no derby success to speak of. Worst, you don’t even see him join a derby. I’ve talked to people this guy sold his bragged stocks to, and all of them think they were duped.

To all of you who have made enough by fooling young or new cockers and breeders, I suggest you stop while karma has not caught up on you yet, unless you want to end up like the others who just can’t figure out what happened to them later in their lives when tragedies befell them.

COME TO ROLIGON

To those who are not aware yet, I am proud to announce that I have return as General Manager of Roligon Mega Cockpit and we are now on our way to reclaim out title as the Mecca of Philippine Cockfighting.

After the success of the 2010 Hatawan Derby, we now have schedules of events up to March 2011.

Our first stag derby is on Tuesday, August 31 dubbed as the “Istagan Na” 4-Stag Derby wherein some 45 entries have already confirmed participation which translates to no less than 90 fights. Prize purse is P400,000 with the entry fee pegged at P11,000.

This will be followed by the Stagfest 2010 5-Stag Derby on September 9, 11, 14 & 16 with guaranteed cash prize of P1.5 million for an entry fee of only P9,900.

Then on September 28 & 30, Butch Pichay and Rey Briones will host the 1^st Pichay Cup 7-Stag Derby in which 40 entries including Cong. Manny Pacquiao are set to join.