The game of sabong or cockfighting is deeply rooted in Philippine culture. It is the favorite past time for most male Filipinos even during the Spanish colonial times. If baseball is popular in the United States, bullfighting in Spain, and spider fighting in Thailand and Indonesia, sabong is the Phlippine counterpart. In history, it was first mentioned in “Pigafetta’s Fist Voyage around the World”. Even Dr. Jose Rizal allotted a whole chapter about sabong in his famous novel, Noli m Tangere.
This time, SABONG is to be used as an acronym for Small Allied business On Gamefowl and conceptualized by the UNAHCO-Thunderbird team to promote the game fowl business in the Philippines. According to Dr. Rodner A. Tuquib, regional promo coordinator of Thunderbird for Mindanao, it is part of their company’s “corporate social responsibility” to promote income generating jobs for people involved in cockfighting as a sport.
Hopefully, people who will come to the Malagos Farm Fair will look at the sabong industry in another light, and for the game fowl breeders to grab the opportunity that the Philippines is still bird flu free and can therefore export game fowls all over the world. The UNAHCO-Thunderbird’s seminar entitled “The Philippine Game fowl Industry” will be on August 6 and 7. So for the game fowl aficionados out there, come and join us!. See you at the fair!.
