The fighting cock would have been the national bird of America. I believe it lost by a single vote to the eventual winner, the American Eagle.
For good or worse, cockfighting is here and it is here to stay. Whether face to face or the monolithic E-sabong, Filipinos are addicted to it. Is cockfighting a vice or a sport? Some aficionados bet millions on their ace cocks. A ready to fight cock is priced from P20,000.00 to P30,000.00. Cockfighting in the country has become an industry. Game farms are found almost everywhere. Small raisers tend to their cocks right in their residences. I remember the guy Arthur Pineda who evacuated from floods with his five cocks on top of government desks.
The emergence of talpak has transformed cockfighting into a home breaker. Since you can bet on a 24 hour basis, there appears to be no limits. In any form of gambling, the bigger capital gobbles up the smaller bets.
I am intrigued by the “binabae” cock. There are derbies that prohibit the participation of binabae cocks. The fighting cock is a “gentleman” so it dares not fight a “babae” that leads to his death. The binabae cock wins. I have a friend, Dencio who places bets on any cock opposite the binabae. What I know is Dencio loses more often than he wins.
The balulang specie has long been forgotten. When I was young, I saw a balulang cock flying so high that it was spectacular in triumph. The Cebuano specie was fiery and tough. Tira lang ng tira, walang direksyon. Monching Mitra experimented on the Asil Specie but his cocks had more losses than winnings.
The Americans have introduced the Texas variety in the country. But we outdid the American. We have better Texas cocks than those in the States. We have become the cockfighting capital in the world.