REST YOUR COCKS, IT’S HOLY WEEK

CARREO by Rolando S. Luzong

Peoples Tonight (March 31, 2010)

REST YOUR COCKS, IT’S HOLY WEEK

Last March 29, Holy Monday, a P1.1M-entry-fee derby was held. Today, tomorrow and even on Good Friday, invitations to participate in derbies and conciertos are being distributed like campaign paraphernalia in and ouside the cockpit.

Question : Do we really have a shortage of days in a year to fight our roosters that even during the holiest of times, we have to stage a derby or see our cocks fight?

HAPPY TO BE RECOGNIZED

During our wingbanding sorties around Leyte and Samar wherein we intentionally seek backyard breeders, most of whom have never experienced or seen how a wingbanding or screening process is done.

For a backyard breeder, especially those who just produce 20 – 30 stags a year, wingbands on their birds is like having their roosters legitimized and upgraded. As one satisfied small-scale rooster raiser would put it, “Hindi na pirated ang manok ko”.

It was what the BGT CUP has done as of the moment…give cognizance of the small sabungero and make him know that he is part of the big circle in the community of gamefowl breeders and cockfighters in the Philippines.

BGT CUP means Backyard-breeders Gamefowl Testing  Competitiveness Upgrade Program and is aimed to inspire, teach and provide mass-based breeders a credible and worthy competition wherein they could test and showcase their stags.

With about 300 small and medium scale farms visited and more than 4,500 cockerels banded, BGT CUP is well on its way to achieving its goal of training new cockers about the more exciting world of derby fighting.

For more information about the BGT CUP, text or call 0917-3504333 or 0928-5500951 or 0909-3515219.

THUNDERBIRD WAS THERE FIRST

Nowadays, the gamefowl breeding industry is said to be a 20 billion peso industry although others say its 50B. And because of this attractive figures, many companies, local and multi-nationals, have gone out of their way to enter the gamefowl feeds and vetmed market.

The Philippine cockfighting tree has bear fruits…lots of fruits, so it is not surprising why so many entities has showed up to try to get a share of the harvest.

Yes, it’s already harvest time, but, who was there during the doubtful years when the seeds of progress for Philippine cockfighting and the industry of gamefowl breeding were just being sowed.

Proudly, it was Thunderbird who saw the glimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and believed on the bright future of the Sport and industry that is truly Filipino.

I remember because I was there with Thunderbird when they first ventured into uncharted waters. A gamefowl feed being promoted and advertised was something new that we found ourselves having hard times just to be able to enter a cockpit.

Thunderbird was the first gamefow feed to advertise on television. Thunderbird was the first to conduct gamefowl breeding seminars.

Thunderbird was the first to come out with a special calendar that featured the top sabungeros at that time that included the late Monching Mitra (whose son Monmon is now running for a Senate seat); Cito Alberto, Boy Primalion and American Richard Bates who passed away last year.

Thunderbird actually glamorized the Sport that helped a lot in luring more people to join the fray.

As the gamefowl industry grew by leaps and bounds into a multi-billion peso sector and as Philippine cockfighting moved to a dizzying pace, Thunderbird developed into an institution that has gained its own identity and distinction that no other company or group can claim.

Yes, sabong is now a multi-billion-peso industry. Yes, there are lots of players in the gamefowl feeds and vetmed business today…but Thunderbird was there first and it never left.

Thunderbird is truly the only company built by an industry that it helped nourish.