vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

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hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
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Sabong in the time of bird flu

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | April 3, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Filed under: Investigative Reports, Public Health

IN the Philippines, sabong (cockfight) is more than just a pastime among inveterate gamblers. Sabong is deeply entrenched in the Philippine culture with sabungeros estimated at about eight to 10 million Filipinos, or roughly 10 percent of the total population. Such consuming passion for sabong has also spawned a P50-billion industry, with the gamefowl-breeding sector spurring demand for feeds, vitamins, and facilities especially designed for fighting cocks.

Sabong’s cultural and economic importance has thus posed a serious challenge to the government-led National Avian Influenza Task Force (NAITF) with its campaign to keep the Philippines bird flu free. It has taken the task forcesome time to address the concerns of sabungeros and explain why culling has to be done.

Below is a report by PCIJ contributor Prime Sarmiento:

Sabong in the time of bird flu

Gil Nicolas was just eight years old when he took care of his first fighting cock. Growing up amid the mountainous terrain of Kalinga province in the Cordilleras, Nicolas inherited the hobby from his father, a gamefowl breeder. “It runs in the family,” says Nicolas. “Nae-expose sa ganyan so nahihilig ka (I was exposed to it, and it grew on me.“ The childhood pastime soon evolved into a lifelong passion. Nicolas, a veterinarian by profession, but a sabungero by avocation, now owns a medium-scale gamefowl-breeding farm in Bulacan.

“Ang sabungero bigyan mo ng Pharmaton hindi niya iinumin ‘yan, ibibigay niya ‘yan sa manok niya (Give a cockfighter Pharmaton, he won’t take it, but would give it to his gamefowl),” says Nicolas, spokesman of the National Federation of Gamefowl Breeders (NFGB), an umbrella group of gamefowl breeders’ associations in the Philippines.

Nicolas, who represents the NFGB in the government-led National Avian Influenza Task Force (NAITF), also understands why it’s difficult for his fellow sabungeros to accept the task force’s stance on culling.

There will be “strong resistance” because of the breeders’ attachment to their gamefowls, he says.

The Philippines to this day remains bird flu-free, even as nearby nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia continue to report cases of the disease. But in the event the lethal H5N1 bird flu virus enters the country, military and agriculture officials will cull all feathered animals within the three-kilometer radius of the infected area to halt the spread of the virus. These animals will include ducks, broilers, quails, and yes, even that that pampered fighting cock.

Ruben Pascual, overall coordinator of Project Blue, the NAITF’s information and education arm, stresses that there is a very big difference between the poultry raisers and the gamefowl breeders. The latter, he says, touch their fowl and practice with it. “They feed them everything,“ he adds.

Apart from the huge amount of time and energy needed in nurturing gamefowls, those who are into raising cockfighting champions sink in hefty sums to set up and maintain a breeding farm.

A gamefowl breeder will have to shell out an initial investment of roughly P500,000 to buy some “trio” (a breeding set composed of one brood cock and two hens) and build farm facilities, according to estimates made by Edmundo Gorgonia, chairman of the Northern Mindanao Gamefowl Breeders Association.

Gorgonia adds that a medium-scale gamefowl breeder who has 200 birds will have to spend a minimum of P1,800 a head each year (or a total of P360,000 per year) for maintenance — to pay for feeds, vitamins, vaccines, salary to caretakers, etc.

Such huge emotional and economic investment may thus compel a sabungero to hide all his fighting cocks than to have them culled. One only has to look at Thailand, where breeders refused to have their gamefowls culled even in the wake of the bird flu outbreaks. They hid their gamefowls or moved them to other farms, thereby exacerbating Thailand’s bird flu problem. The illegal movement of gamefowl has since been cited as one of the main factors for the spread of bird flu in several Thai provinces.

Eric Buhain, chairman of the Games and Amusement Board here, says it is likely that the Philippines might encounter the same problem, and points to the necessity of taking a different tack when dealing with gamefowl breeders.

“You can’t treat fighting cocks just like an ordinary broiler chicken,” he argues. “How can you explain to them that you have to cull your priceless brood cock because your neighbor was hit by H5N1?“

The Republic of Sabong

In his seminal ethnography on symbolic anthropology, Deep Play: Notes On the Balinese Cockfight published three decades ago, U.S. anthropologist Clifford Geertz noted that Balinese men “spend an enormous amount of time with their favorites (fighting cocks): grooming them, feeding them, discussing them, trying them out against one another or just gazing at them with a mixture of rapt admiration and dreamy self-absorption.” Geertz’s research focused on sabong-crazy Balinese men, but he might as well be describing a typical Pinoy sabungero.

After all, in the Philippines as in Bali, sabong is more than just a pastime among inveterate gamblers. Sabong is deeply entrenched in the Philippine culture that Gorgonia estimated between eight and 10 million Filipinos, or roughly 10 percent of the total population are sabungeros.

A cockpit, along with a school, the municipal hall and the church, are among the key structures that one usually sees in a typical Philippine municipality. And in a country where there’s a huge gap between the rich and the poor, sabong serves as an equalizer. Politicians, businessmen, yuppies, laborers and peasants –- all of them can enjoy, bet, win, lose or just get infected by the tremendous energy generated by an exciting cockfight.

Sabong also has several functions in Philippine society, according to Michael Tan, chairman of the anthropology department at the University of the Philippines.

“Sabong isn’t just about the fighting cock and the sabungero,” he says. “It’s about sociability, pagsama sa barkada (going with one’s group). A cockpit is also a political area, politicians go there as well. Doon din siya inaawitan ng mga constituents niya (That’s also where his or her constituents approach him).”

The Filipinos’ consuming passion for sabong has spawned a P50-billion industry. The gamefowl-breeding sector spurred a demand for feeds, vitamins, and facilities especially designed for fighting cocks. The industry itself has its own media — magazines and TV shows catering to sabong aficionados. The cockpit itself can be compared to a big corporation that employs several professionals — each with his or her own field of expertise. There’s the mang-uulot (who matches the cocks), the mananari (who heels the cocks) and of course the most renowned cockpit “professional,” the cristo, or the bet takers.

Sabong’s cultural and economic importance simply cannot be ignored even as the NAITF pushes on with its campaign to keep the Philippines bird flu free. This is why the task force took some time to address the concerns and explain why culling has to be done.

Prevention, Not Vaccination, Is the Best Defense

Pascual recalls that late last year, some politicians who are also major game fowl breeders, sent their representatives to him and suggested an alternative to culling. They asked Pascual if they could just vaccinate their gamefowls should there be bird-flu outbreak.

“I said no, that is unacceptable,” recounts Pascual. “We (the task force) aren’t against vaccination. But we’re against vaccination as a first line of defense.” He says that he met with gamefowl breeders to explain to them why culling should be done to curb the spread of the disease.

“The chickens that were vaccinated will survive,” says Pascual. “But if you fail to vaccinate every bird in the area, then these vaccinated birds will survive but set off the virus and affect an unvaccinated bird.“

And since H5N1 is zoonotic, an infected gamefowl won’t only affect another chicken but may also transmit the virus to the breeder himself and his family.

“Sila (gamefowl breeders) rin naman ang pinoprotektahan (We are also trying to protect them),” says Agriculture Secretary and NAITF chairman Domingo Panganiban. “Kung sila ang naapektuhan, mamamatay din sila. E di useless din ang manok nila (If they are infected, they will die. So what good would their gamefowls be then).”

After several discussions, gamefowl breeders conceded that culling have to be done in order to curb the spread of the virus. This is the NFGB’s official position, Nicolas himself says, noting that the NFGB will follow the government’s policy on the matter. Yet he also admits that his organization cannot guarantee that all its members would agree to culling if and when H5N1 does strike.

“It’s an individual decision. Madaling sabihin na magcocomply (It’s easy to say they will comply),“ he says, but whether they will actually do so is another matter together.

Still, Nicolas says leaders of the organizations belonging to NFGB spearhead workshops on bird flu awareness. Gorgonia, for example, reports that his association, which is one of the member organizations of NFGB, is conducting such workshops among Northern Mindanao-based members and is urging them to intensify biosecurity measures. Gorgonia says his TV shows “Tukaan” and “Sultada,” which he hosts and produces, also feature regular bird-flu updates.

Gamefowl breeders, agree that prevention is their best defense against bird flu. Because at the end of the day, it’s not vaccination or endless debates on culling will ensure the safety of the gamefowl industry, and the Philippines as a whole.

“If every major farm takes leadership in doing the prevention measures,” says Pascual, “then I think the Philippines will be safe from bird flu.“

This entry was posted on Monday, April 3rd, 2006 and is filed under Investigative Reports, Public Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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