Part 43: Controversy....
As each day passed in Manila, I was feeling much less like a tourist and more like a local, smiling, and not complaining, two of the most recognisable Filipino traits. which is almost the opposite of living in the Uk. I was learning basic phrases of Tagalog too and most people who visit here quickly discover that the Philippines, and its people were really quite amazing.
The rawness and frantic nature of the congested capital became second nature to me now. I'd jump on the rammed public transport alone and speak to the drivers in basic Tagalog, either trikes, jeeps or the insanely crowded MRT trains, I'd experienced all the public transportations, believe me, you have not lived until you have tried Filipino jeepney's or trikes on a busy day.
I tried street foods, lived in the suburbs, explored the provinces and learned about its history, visited islands and spoken to the indigenous people there, but still I've only scratched the surface.
I wanted to continue travelling here to get a complete understanding of how they live, and I felt I was slowly getting there. One of the things I was asked to experience were c*** fights'
Now to be perfectly honest, this was something I was not sure of at all, and would probably be the subject of a little controversy. Nevertheless they were huge events here, and a massive pull with the locals, rightly or wrongly it was a part of their culture.
'Bimbi' one of my drinking buddies, and the character of our group was a big fan, and used to go 2 or 3 times a week, asking me several times to go with him.
Managing to dodge going a few times, I suddenly found my self agreeing to accompanying him the next day to a c*** fighting arena: yes, even if it did make me a little nervous, especially since not having a clue what to expect, or if they were indeed legal at this point.
Bimbi met me at the condo for lunch time. I remember thinking to myself that I'd pop in, take a quick look around to get a feel for the atmosphere, and head off - well that was my plan anyway. We both jumped in a jeep and took the quick 30 minute ride to the arena. Soon as we got off, not only could I see the shabby concrete stadium in the distance, I could hear it too. This place was already quite loud, you could make out the shouts and cheering before I even got there, kind of like approaching a football stadium.
It was old, dirty, very intimidating, and not surprisingly, I was the only foreigner there.
We payed a small entrance fee and made our way in to the arena which was already busy, even if it was mid afternoon on a week day. Everyone was on their feet shouting at the top of their voices, screaming their bets at the staff, arms waving, hand signals indicating their bets and jumping up and down. It was a pretty intense atmosphere, and reminded me more of a Mad Max movie than anything else.
The commentator was a barefoot large guy in the middle of the cockring, and I remember thinking that wouldn't the chickens peck his toes? still he was working the packed crowd into a bit of a frenzy. Keepers were clutching their prize c*** , about to do battle in the ring, stroking them, kissing them, whispering to them lovingly in a really bizarre fashion.
There were two old guys sweeping up the ring, clearing away the blood and feathers from the previous fight too
This was insane, and I wasn't exactly feeling comfortable here, nor could I stop myself from thinking what on earth I was actually doing here either.
During the fight the c*** all wear razor sharp blades that are fixed to their legs which made me feel even more uneasy.
Bimbi gave me a quick crash course on hand signals, code words and rules, and before I knew it the fight was about to begin, but I still didn't really have a clue what was going on.
He was on his feet like everyone around me shouting his bet, whilst some people close by were looking over and I was just doing my very best to look and act as normal as possible, even though I stood out like a sore thumb.
Then a couple of guys asked me which one I wanted to bet on. You could not even hear the ring commentator through the PA system because the crowd was just so loud, and yet I still had absolutely no idea what was going on!
So I panicked and just kind of did an 'east side' gang sign and raised my hand. It did something, as the bet taker nodded his head and pointed at me.
Bimbi was laughing his head off!!
turns out I just bet 400 pesos on the c*** in the blue corner on the left.
I could not hear my self think through all the noise, then a horn went off, and the two c*** just looked at each other. Then after a bit of flapping it was all over before I even noticed. That was it! The place erupted. Well the ones that won anyway and I won 800 pesos apparently; just like that!
I learned that unless regulated, c*** fighting is indeed illegal here - luckily this particular one was legit.
Not sure that makes this right though, but at least I was reassured that there was not going to be a police raid mid way through the fight and we'd end up getting arrested!
Some of the crowd couldn't quite get their heads around me being there and kept asking Bimbi who I was and wanted know what I was doing here - a few introduced them selves to me.
One unsavoury looking chap, who had a scar on his face, and only one eye started to make conversation, but it was really hard to make out what he was saying exactly through all the noise, plus he had this odd soft voice which didn't quite match up with his image.
Turns out that he was an ex convict who would rather spend his money on cockfighting than food, and It was his way of telling me how addictive it was; trust me, this was someone you would not want to mess with.
Then Another man told me his story, who used to be an old pro boxer and was also addicted to coming here too. He didn't have a job and this was how he got money to feed his family.
It took me a while, but I finally started to relax now, even if the majority of the people looked like a who's who on a rogue gallery, they meant no harm and were just mostly curious.
Looking all around me I wouldn't say this was a particularly bad