A Guide to Practical Breeding Philippine Lemons, 2012 | Page 9

Mayor Juancho Aguirre and his lemon guapo

The lemon guapo
Another strain of lemon that has been around for more than 30 years is the lemon guapo
of Mayor Juancho Aguirre.
According to mayor Juancho in the sixties and the 70s Negros was full of so-called
lemon lines. There were the 84, the batchoy, the togo, the massa, and the hinigaran, to name a
few. The 84 was Paeng’s creation. Batchoy and massa were name of the breeders who originated these lines, while Hinigaran is the place of Freddie Yulo, who had been the Negrenses’
foremost source of hulsey lemon cocks.
At that time most Negros breeders, including the group of Mayor Juancho, did not have
the technical knowledge and support that present day breeders enjoy. For them, it was, almost
always a hit and miss affair. Thus, they really had a hard time producing good birds, much less
maintain their winning lines.
Indeed, it was the reason, mayor Juancho said, that they sponsored the Duke himself to
stay in Negros for a while to teach them the rudiments of breeding and fighting.
Because of this lack of scientific knowledge, coupled with the fact that the breeders also
failed to assess accurately the value of these lemons, most of these lines either went to extinction or took the back seat.
The 84s and the batchoys are still around. The massa and togo are no longer heard of.
The hinigaran has reincarnated as the Guapo line.
Here is the story:
At about the time, Paeng’s 84s were making waves, disaster hit mayor Aguirre’s stock.
Avian pest wiped out his flock. Among, the very few survivors were a lemon brood cock and a
baby stag that was suffering from a limber neck as result of barely surviving the epidemic.
Discouraged and decided to take a leave from breeding, the mayor gave the brood cock