Pago for Your Fellowmen

CARREO by Rolando S. Luzong

Peoples Tonight (December 26, 2008)

Pago for Your Fellowmen

In sabong, the word pago means the act of agreeing or consenting to or accepting a request or an offer by the llamador or casador to bet on one of two roosters about to fight each other in the rueda.

Through the years, we’ve seen all kinds of mamamago or tahor who have been coming to the pits since as far as we can remember, while there are also a lot of those who turned out to be just flashes in the pan.

To make a pago is helping the promoter, the cockpit owner, the derby host and also the aficionados, because a pago would mean that the fight will push through in an ulutan or the fight will begin immediately in case of derbies.

There are also some who make pago to flaunt their wealth or to get noticed thinking he will be admired as a big bettor. There are those bulalakaw mamamago who like a falling star or bulalakaw suddenly gets so bright in a dark sky, but is gone in a second or two.

Instead of making pago to be popular on earth, why don’t we start doing pago to improve our credentials in heaven.

A lot of people needs your pago. There’s that beggar in the corner who needs your pago of loose change; the children who needs your pago of guidance; the elderly who needs your pago of assistance: those calamity victims who needs your pago of relief; those in jail who need your pago of understanding; the sick who needs your pago of encouragement; the young cocker who needs your pago of inspiration and the losers who need your pago of assurance that next time it will be better.

To pago for others is to pago for your self and your soul. Pago na…

A SHORTAGE OF AWARDEES?

Don’t know whether it was because they were just very much preoccupied with the staging of the Bakbakan 2009 and the many challenges it posted, or there’s just a shortage of deserving awardees already, that the National Federation of Gamefowl Breeders did not honor any cocker this year, with their own style of a Nobel prize.

Through Bakbakan’s staging over the first eight years, a cocker or two is honored for their contribution to Philippine cockfighting. Some of these great cockers whose stars are already imprinted forever in Philippine cockfighting’s imaginary Walk of Fame includes Mamie Lacson, Don Ramon Lacson, Speaker Ramon V. Mitra, Richard Bates, Democrito O. Plaza and James Chiongbian among others. All were posthumous awards except the one bestowed on Hilarito “Boy” Primalion of Zamboanga, who gave us the phenomenal Zamboanga Whites.

This year, a considerable number of people have asked me, even before the grand finals of the Bakbakan when the awarding is customarily done, who will be this year’s awardees. I asked Rizal Gamefowl Breeders Association President Joey Sy – who is 2009 Bakbakan Marketing Committee Chariman, about it once, I did not get any answer, so I did not bother to inquire again thinking that maybe there was a consensus to keep the identity of the awardees secret until the Awards Night.

Bakbakan 2009 was a success in record-breaking fashion, the champions were decided and the cash prizes were released, but the Hall of Fame Award was missing.

Whatever the reasons were, the time to have the 2009 Awardees is already out of NFGB’s hands. To try to catch up by handing out the 2009 honors within the 2010 Bullang-Bullang national bullstag derby in May is inappropriate, so I guess we just have to wait for the 2010 Bakbakan.

This early, what if we take it upon ourselves to make our own recommendations to the NFGB for the next awardees? You can send me your suggestions with your reasons in recommending them. Send them via email at rluzong2000@gmail.com or thru mail at P.O. Box No. 103, Marikina Central Post Office, 1800 Marikina City.

I’ll start the ball rolling by recommending a recognition for the late Edmundo “Emoy” Gorgonia who pioneered with the first tele-magazine television program on sabong. His program Tukaan has helped so much in the dissemination of information in everything about sabong that enabled the education of mass-based cockers and the promotion of sabong as a unique Filipino sport and pastime and an alternative source of livelihood. He was killed two years ago in Cagayan de Oro and until now, the perpetrators of the crime and the motive behind it remains a mystery.

Merry Christmas to my favorite uncle Tiyo Waling Mijares who is just so proud to tell me that he has kept a copy of each issue of Peoples Tonight where Carreo appeared. Mabuhay ka Tiyo Waling, all my childhood memories of Christmas has you with it. I wish you live forever.