'Sabungeros' clash at Comelec

'Sabungeros' clash at Comelec

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated September 19, 2009 12:00 AM

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MANILA, Philippines - Two groups of cockfighting aficionados have elevated their rivalry to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after one of them opposed the other’s petition for accreditation and registration as a party-list organization to join the 2010 polls.

In an urgent petition, the Alyansa ng Sabungero, founded by a certain Nid Anima, asked the Comelec to deny the application of the Adhikain ng Magmamanok whose president is Compostella Valley congressman Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora.

Alyansa had also sought to be accredited and registered by the Comelec, claiming that it represents the marginalized sector of cockfighting workers like the kristo (bet taker), mananari (blade man), sentenciador (judge), casador (the one who evens the bets), largador (pitter), handler, utility people, small-time asentista, takilyero (the man at the cockpit entrance), chicken doctor and magbabalahibo ng manok (featherman), among others.

In the two-page petition, Anima said that Adhikain was established by Zamora who is already serving his third term as congressman, thus he is no longer allowed to run for district representation in next year’s election.

The petitioner added that the election law “is explicit about the tenure of a congressman, which is just three terms or one election and two re-elections or in total, nine years.”

“No member of the House of Representatives shall serve more than three consecutive terms. Granting arguendo, but without necessarily conceding that Adhikain ng Magmamanok gets accredited cum registered by the Comelec and Rep. Manuel Zamora as first nominee of the same party list gets elected, it would be an exercise in futility for both the Comelec and Rep. Manuel Zamora since such assumed election invariably defeats the letter and spirit of the law over which the same parties are not above,” the petitioner said.

Anima added that in trying to get Adhikain accredited and registered, Zamora “probably caters to the notion that party-list provides him a convenient avenue to circumvent the law.”

GIVING IT TO NID ANIMA

CARREO by Rolando S. Luzong

Peoples Tonight (September 9, 2009)

GIVING IT TO NID ANIMA

You have to give it to Alyansa Sabungero founder Nid Anima for balls. Say much in the vernacular and you will be saying obscene. It is the only way – there’s no other – to describe the willingness to be recipient of so much flak.

The flak emanates from everywhere, print, radio, tv and event internet, not to mention word of mouth. The last is very real in the watering places, cafes, barbershops, cockpits and elsewhere.

You have to give it to Nid Anima as well for decisive action, his known trademark. Other sabungeros, whether individually or in groups, have been so much inyo the talk of putting up a cockfight party list and this direction is privy to the same. Yet it was still all blabber and no action.

Anima is quite the opposite. His words come few and far between, but as it turns out, he acts quite decisively. His filing for Accreditation cum Registration of the Party List Alyansa Sabungero thus exploded in everybody’s face like the bomb it is not.

It really surprised everyone, especially from the ranks of the sabungeros. Not one expected it, least of all from a quiet man like Anima. His move is not precipitate, though.

“It was the least of my wishes for the burden of filing the party list to fall on my shoulders, if I had the choice at all” so says the Alyansa Sabungero founder.

But it would seem he has none at all.

He continues, “I waited long enough and patiently. Election after election after election, so many really, came and went and no sound is heard from the cockfight front. Not even a whimper. No pary list has been filed…My patience came to a head.-its short end – in 2007. I told myself then : ‘Should no one still come forward to file a sabungero party list, then I’ll take the initiative in 2010. ‘And that was that’.

The filing for Accreditation of the Alyansa Sabungero definitely pulled the rug beneath the feet of those are all plan and talk but deficient in resolve and action. They have only themselves to blame. They are now sour-graping over the fault, not of Nid Anima’s making but their own.

You have to give it to Nid Anima for other things besides. This cockfight is something controversial and almost indefensible. It takes a fellow of superior intelligence to be on top of any debate regarding its morality. Anima is equal to the task of justifying it, thanks to his being cerebral.

For the elections of 2010, there are more than 250 party list petitioners. Yet none of them attracted so much public attention and outcry as does Alyansa Sabungero. Only this party list really and no other. Sympathizers try to appease its founder’s punctured feelings with the cliché : Publicity, good or bad, is still publicity.

The enormous attention laid on Alyansa Sabungero is quite understandable. The cockfight is such a controversial subject. Funny and crazy, but it has made of its proponent sort of an overnight celebrity. Something he could not have bargained.

If he were a movie star, there would be no problem about his identity. But he is not. He is just an ordinary man. Very much like you and me. For that, the query – Who is Nid Anima?

The query jolts him somehow, not having previously figured it out. Would he have had, but he has not? It strikes him as some of challenge and if we know him enough, he is not going to shirk it. Next time his answer will be filed in. Hack that on rock.

NID ANIMA OF ALYANSA SABUNGERO INTERVIEWED OVER PROGRAM "HATAW" AT DZRH - THE BIGGEST AND WIDEST RADIO NETWORK IN THE PHILIPPINES.

MANILA TIMES (SUNDAY) EDITORIAL - AUG. 23

Sunday, August 23, 2009

EDITORIAL

Sabong goes to Congress

We wonder why it has taken this long for the Alyansa ng Sabungero to seek party-list status and congressional representation. The cockpit workers belong to one of the oldest occupations in the country but conditions of life and work have hardly improved.

Critics are wrong to say that the major heirs of sectoral representation are the wealthy cockers and cockpit owners. For every gambler, there are scores of kristo, sentenciador, casador, mananari, largador, matchmakers, takilyador and backyard breeders who depend for a living on betting money and on the tahor they work for winning and making a bundle.

Cockfight toilers claim a national constituency because a cockpit inhabits almost every city and major municipality. It is not known what cause—apart from improving their lot—the sabong workers will espouse in Congress. They might ask for a bigger share of the winnings and the losing cocks.

We heard the party would have for its motto, “Karangalan at Kaunlaran,” because cockfighting has a strong code of honor. Every player honors his bet; nobody cheats. The Alyansa said it hopes to infect the congressmen with its tradition of honesty.

A strong caucus is expected to lobby for the group—sportsmen like Chavit Singson, Peping Cojuangco, Ronnie Puno, Manny Pacquiao and Jun Santiago, among others. Many congressmen breed gamecocks and gamble a lot. National Artist Anding Roces, who has chronicled life in the cockpit, could be expected to write the group’s manifesto.

The entry of alyansa is one of the good news in the party-list scene. We heard the community of artists—writers, painters, composers and others—has applied for membership. They claim Malacañang has marginalized them. They claim under-representation in the boards of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as well as the Appeals Committee in the Palace.

The Comelec commissioners, some senators, opinion writers and other kibitzers find the Alyansa move amusing and the fact that more than 250 groups have applied for accreditation. They should re-read the Party-List Act which says that the state shall promote representation for marginalized and underrepresented Pinoys who could contribute to the drafting and passage of laws that will benefit the nation.

What is good for the cockpit workers could be good for the country. And that goes for the other threatened sectors—like the jueteng collectors, mistresses, smokers, gays, prisoners, call-center workers and housemaids—who are integral to society and who deserve a voice in the important task of lawmaking.

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD...

CARREO by Rolando S. Luzong
Peoples Tonight (August 21, 2009)

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD…

“Fools rush in, where angels fear to tread”, as a popular old song
goes. The line may well describe Alyansa Sabungero leader Nid Anima
and what he has done, at least through the eyes of some political and
church leaders.

Let’s examine some of them and what they have to say :

“Hindi naman sila marginalized dahil sila may hawak ng pera [They
are not marginalized because they hold money],” - Comelec Chairman Joe
Melo.

“I don’t think they are marginalized” - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (laughs)

“Kasi kung bababuyin na rin nila (sabungero) ang party-list,
tuluyan na nating bastusin. Ang pinag-uusapan sa party-list ‘di lang
margina¬lized kundi sectoral representation” – Sen. Ping Lacson.

“Kapag sila ay naaprubahan, ako naman ang magtatayo ng alyansa ng
mga manok-panabong” – Archbishop Cruz (laughs)

“Agrabyado din naman ang mga sabungero. Karapatan nila itong
mag-apply, nasa Comelec naman kung tatanggapin nila ito. Marahil meron
din silang gustong mga ireklamo, isyu na gusto nilang isulong, itong
kanilang pagkaka-agrabyado sa Max's, sa KFC at sa Jollibee” – Sen. Mar
Roxas

If these politicians are trying to advance their political
interests, they should be wise enough not to ridicule or antagonized
the sabungeros. Well, at least, one of them is more broad-minded or
probably wiser.

“Dapat irespeto ang karapatan ng bawat organisasyong
nagpapakila¬lang party-list group at nasa kamay ng Comelec kung sino
ang karapat-dapat kilalanin at dapat lamang ibatay sa kuwalipikasyong
itinatakda ng komisyon ang pag-apruba sa mga application.” – Sen. Chiz
Escudero. Of course, it can not be denied that Escudero belongs to the
Nationalist Peoples Coalition with certified sabungero Danding
Cojuangco as their leader.

In the last national registration done by the Gamefowl Division of
the Games & Amusement Board in 1993, around 2,000 cockpits registered.
However, with the immense popularity and acceptance gained by sabong
over the past 16 years, it can easily be assumed a growth of at least
10 percent in the number of cockpits nationwide.

Each cockpit employs or is a source of income for an average of
30 cockpit staff; 3 sentenciadors; 50 vendors (inside & outside the
cockpit); 50 kristos (bet takers); 20 gaffers (mananari) and 3 cock
doctors (manggagamot) for a total of 156 income earners per cockpit or
a total of 343,000 breadwinners nationwide.

In addition, there is an average ratio of four poultry supply stores
per cockpit catering to sabong as their major business. Each one
employs at least 4 employees. 2,200 x 4 x 4 = 35,200 more
breadwinners.

There are more than 20 big companies engaged in the production,
marketing and distribution of gamefowl feeds, feed supplement,
vitamins, medication, vaccines, etc. employing an average of 200
employees each from the plant to the wholesalers. 20 x 100 = 4,000
more breadwinners.

There are a lot of small allied businesses producing gaffs, boxes,
incubators, gloves, carrying cases, folding pens, feeding cups, cords
etc. that can add up to 1,000 nationwide that employs at least 3
persons each. 3 x 1,000 = 3,000 more breadwinners.

There are about 4,000 breeders belonging to the 29-member
organizations under the National Federation of Gamefowl Breeders and
the United Gamecock Breeders Federation which has 12-member
associations. These large and medium scale farms employ an average of
5 farmhands each. 4,000 x 5 = 20,000 more breadwinners.

There is easily an average of 20 cockers or breeders with small
backyard farms for every cockpit with 10-20 heads of roosters each on
a per cockpit ratio with the owner as employee. 20 x 2,200 = 44,000
more breadwinners.

All of these total to a sector of almost half a million breadwinners.
And how about the sabungeros themselves who can add up to another 2
million voters.

Election is getting nearer. If some politicians think ridiculing the
sabungeros will make them win, they better think again, especially
presidential hopeful Sen. Mar Roxas who is a nephew of highly
respected sabungero Jorge “Nene” Araneta – the host of the World
Slasher Cup.

It doesn’t matter if some politicians think Nid Anima is a fool,
because to many sabungero he is their Don Quixote…marching into hell
for a heavenly cause.