Angel “Beboy” Javellana GF-BAN BREEDER OF THE YEAR

13 STRAIGHT WINS

Angel “Beboy” Javellana is not a known name in the big-time derby circuits. Instead, when the name Javellana is mentioned, his more famous older brother Ramon “Berong” Javellana always comes to mind.

But 2009 is Beboy’s year. After only four years of official membership to the Game Fowl Breeders Association (GF-BAN), he has not only run away with the solo championship to the prestigious annual MassKara Festival P7-Million 8-Stag Derby held at the New Negros Coliseum in Pahanocoy, Bacolod City, but the P500,000 5-Stag Clean Up Derby as well. These derbies are held to coincide with Bacolod’s celebration of the MassKara Festival every October. With 13 straight wins, both titles qualified Beboy Javellana to be heralded as the GF-BAN Breeder of the Year. And his name has also been catapulted to fame, ranking among the champion breeders in Negros.

A FAMILY OF SABUNGEROS
Beboy hails from a family of sabungeros. His father, Glicerio “Gising” Javellana, used to operate the cockpit in crossing Bago City in the 50s. The elder Javellana’s contemporary was Don Carlos Montilla who also had his own cockpit in Tangub, Bacolod City. Beboy’s brother Berong is the international senteciador who is a prominent figure in World Slasher events. He is also responsible for the quality bloodlines that Beboy has been toying with all these years.

The Javellanas used to live in their ancestral home in Brgy. Lag-asan, Bago City in southern Negros Occidental, surrounded by hectares upon hectares of verdant sugarcane. Beboy remembers having roosters all around and they would fight them in derbies in neighboring barangays. His present game farm is just about a couple of kilometers away from their family’s old home.

Aside from agriculture, one legacy that his father had left was the knowledge in the rearing and fighting of game fowls. Beboy’s interest in sabong thus continued even after his father’s death. But before his stint with GF-BAN, Beboy only joined 3-cock derbies around Bago City and in the towns of Pulupandan and Valladolid.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Growing up in such an environment, Beboy himself raised game fowl since the 70s in his backyard. The breeding is done in the old garage where their family’s trucks for sugarcane were housed. When asked where the young birds are ranged, his fingers circled the place. He explained that the chickens roamed freely around the farm, as they would just come back to the home base at night. He is not also concerned about thieves, as he said the residents around the breeding area are all their long-time employees in the sugar plantation.

Beboy is not also one who buys parent stock or who imports from known personalities in the United States. Rather, his lineage comes mostly from his brother Berong and the gifts of friends. He said that Berong has many good breeder friends who share their bloodlines with him. The older brother would in turn lend the birds to Beboy for palahian.

“I am not a commercial breeder,” Beboy says. Rather, he is a hobbyist who maintains his 3000 sq.-meter-farm so that he has something to do in his retirement years. Although he is currently residing in Bacolod City with his wife, the former Maria Josefa “Pepay” Araneta in their empty nest, they both go to the farm in Bago City everyday. Pepay also confesses that she does not want to be left alone in the house with nothing to do, now that the children are all grown up and living independently. So she goes with her husband to the farm as she also enjoys the fresh air there and the company of old friends.

Among his children of three girls and a boy, Beboy’s daughter Dorothy (a nurse in London) and son Ian (who is a call center agent) are the ones interested in cockfighting. Whenever Dorothy is in town, she would go with her father to the derbies. Ian, on the other hand, would borrow some chickens from his father to join fights when he finds the time off from work.

BEBOY’S GOOD FRIEND AND PARTNER
Ronnie de los Santos of Central Ma-ao, Bago City is a seaman who had been a long-time good friend and now a financier of Beboy. Whenever the guy is home from his work abroad, Ronnie is often seen at Beboy’s farm. He also makes sure to watch derbies, as he also enjoys cockfighting as a pastime.

In this sweeping victory at the GF-BAN, it was Ronnie who financed Beboy’s entry. Their single entry was called R & B Allyxandra, after their names Ronnie and Beboy and the names of the Beboy’s two grandchildren.

GAME FOWL BREEDING
Beboy is currently maintaining a very small production of about 80 heads per season, as these are only for his personal entries in derbies. He intends to increase production next year by 20 heads. It may not be much but it is already enough for his purposes because after all, he is still not considering becoming a commercial breeder. He does not want the pressure of keeping the game farm as a business, as his breeding may very well be considered a hobby.

Additionally, Beboy explains that maintaining a bigger farm would also mean higher expenditures. He is already content with his production, the minimal monthly expenses, and the satisfaction that his breeding and winnings have brought him.

THE FIGHTING COCK BREEDS
Beboy has quite some collection of birds. He has mixed and matched the bloodlines that he got from his brother Berong and those that his friends have given or lent him. He continually experiments. And quite surprisingly, he does not keep a rigid recording system, but he knows his flock well. Beboy’s entries are mostly battle crosses of Dink Fair, Radioline, Kelso, and Zamboanga White, among a few others. He says that his chickens are the offspring of winners.

During the breeding season, the newly hatched chicks are placed in the brooder for a month, after which they are ranged. The young birds are hardened by their surroundings, like growing wild, because they are free to roam around the property. Outside the old garage where the breeding takes place, Beboy has rice hull dumped there so that the birds can practice scratching and can even pick up some food.

Despite the rather lenient breeding system that Beboy follows, he is very keen on protecting his flock against diseases. He follows the proper immunization program as recommended by specialists, especially against fowl pox and cholera. He also ensures that his birds are fortified with Vitamins B1 and B2, two very essential vitamins for fowl’s wellness. “The chickens’ health is very important,” he tells. “The farm may become infested, but if the birds are in good health, they can easily recover.”

Beboy Javellana may have a humble farm with very simple amenities. He may not have invested in expensive bloodlines. But he has proven that everyone has a fair chance of winning in the game of cockfighting. Whether one has a big or small farm, in the end, the happenings inside the pit will still determine the outcome. His story is one that should encourage, especially new breeders, that there is no small or big breeder inside the cockpit. It is still the fight of the chickens.