Asia Tour '09 - The Philippines: Show Me Your Cock & I'll Show You Mine

Uncle Edgar is the cock arena manager in Paoay and before he could invite us to check it out, I had been asking around the barangay about how I could get into this time-honored past time. I was a little hesitant at first about this experience mainly because I was afraid of the gore and blood I had been accustomed to hearing about through word of mouth and numerous Dateline NBC specials often aired to raise awareness of such an event.

I was wrong about the whole thing. It's not just something of fun, it's a lifestyle - more like a means for survival. Forget the dingy atmosphere brought upon by dreams or the like, this truly is the new Disneyland; well, to some degree.

The cock fight paled in comparison to all the activity that occurs before the fight. Tons of yelling, screaming, pushing and sweating is abundant - often blaringly annoying. Right before the chickens are let loose, the spectators and bettors are asked to choose between the proposed winner or the underdog. (I always went for the underdog). Walla walla walla! or Meron meron meron! are screamed out as if to taunt and rally the chickens until they're about to explode. What happens when they're let loose is another story but I'm sure one could deduct that it's not a happy sight.

The fight lasts no more than 2 minutes in most cases and the winner is usually determined after both chicks are picked up by their necks - the chick whose neck dangles from their corpus is deemed the loser and the winner rests up for their next bout. The loser is carried out of the arena, often in a disgraceful manner only to be left on the side of the building to bleed and be stepped on. The obvious: the losers would be eaten. The not-so-obvious: who would eat them?!

I may talk about animal rights at this point but I thought it would be best to leave this as it is for now.

One thing's for sure: it's really not for show.