To Sabungeros in the future

The time of posting was during the Covid-19 worldwide crisis. Countries were shaken, economies shattered, financial crisis hit most firms and households in the world. The Philippines and Pilipinos were no exception. Even Sabong was not spared. There was no cockfighting for the duration of Enhanced Community Quarantine, more effectively called lockdown.

Those who made a living in the cockpits had no income. Those who sold gamefowl had practically zero sales. Because, aside from hiatus in cockfighing, there was the stay at home policy, people couldn’t go around buying or selling chicken. Then there were no means of delivering chicken, let alone shipping them to other provinces.

And, there was little, or no prompt help from the so-called pilars of the so-called gamefowl industry. Namely: the big federations and the big GBAs; the companies and distributors of feeds and supplements; the promoters of big events and operators of big cockpits. Perhaps, because of problems of their own, or they didn’t feel obligated, they were not quick to act.

Would some help come, to many it would be too late.

Thus, many of us made drastic decisions such as slaughtering beloved flocks. Rightly, for it was not expected that after Covid-19 gamefowl industry would immediately recover. For one, there was no certainty when normal cockfighting would be back. There was the possibility that for a while after the spread of the virus was supposedly contained, measures such as social distancing and ban of mass gathering would continue to be in effect, thus, there would still be no cockfighting.

Then there was the stark reality that after the financial crisis, there would be less purchasing power in the gamefowl market.

So many raisers cut their losses. They quit producing and even killed what they had at the time. The scenario was not bright. And, we small Sabungeros, as usual, were left to fend for ourselves. But we didn’t need to worry, the big guys would be back when Sabong would be once again good and their sailing would be once again smooth.

We were hoping and praying Covid-19 crisis would be over soon enough that the grim scenarios would not materialize. And, everything would be back to normal, or a new normal for Sabong, sooner than later.

This was just a reminder to Sabungeros in the future that in our time there were good times, there were bad times. And, during the bad time in 2020 they were nowhere to be found. We the small Sabungeros were left alone.

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