6 Philippine Showbiz Today
6 Philippine Showbiz Today
August 22 - September 7 , 2016
Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano share their plans
Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano shared what they plan to do after their series Dolce Amore ends . According to Enrique , they will be heading to New York after the teleserye .
“ So after ASAP New York , magiextend pa kami ng isang linggo don . Iikot kami don for like a week . Extend kami for a week not for work ,” he said .
Liza further relayed that they will be bringing along their families to their trip .
“[ We will be ] with his mom and his sister and I ’ m bringing my mom and my lola ,” Liza said .
Asked about their other dream destinations , Enrique shared that they also want to go to Bali and the Maldives .
“ Bali malapit lang , nice beach , gusto namin sa resort lang . Dream ko
The Philippines is known worldwide not only for its historical heritage and popular tourist destinations , such as the Banawe rice terraces and El Nido in Palawan , but also for one of its delicacies , balut . Today , however , the balut industry , one of whose centers is in Pateros , Rizal , is in decline .
There , nearly half of the community of duck raisers and balut manufacturers has folded up . Most of the duck raisers in Pateros point to the culprit : the dying waters of Laguna de Bay . And another : the high costs of artificial feeds to which duck raisers have resorted to because of the deteriorating state of Laguna de Bay .
Right now in city neighborhoods , the distinctive voice of the midnight balut vendor selling like a town crier his boiled duck eggs can hardly be heard . This is unlike in the past when one could spot a balut vendor sitting near the corner of a sari-sari store or the jeepney / bus terminal . People from all walks of life would gather around the balut vendor and buy the delicacies carefully tucked inside his basket of goodies : balut , penoy , boiled peanuts and chicharon dipped in spicy vinegar or sprinkled with rock salt .
Balut , a boiled duck egg with its little black chick curled inside , can be roasted by burying it in burning rice husks . In balutmaking , the unfertilized eggs are removed and sold as boiled penoy . A popular variation is the balut sa puti with a more developed chick , with its feathers , beak and soft bones .
What is happening to the balut vendors and the balut industry that
From boom to gloom : Pateros ’ balut industry fights for life
provides them with a livelihood ? To find answers to these questions , this reporter decided to visit one of the main sources of duck eggs in Metro Manila , a place where ducks are still raised and fed to produce this distinctively Filipino delicacy – Pateros . Pateros is popular among delicacy lovers as balut country .
Mang Rufino Capco , is a businessman who manages the R & M Balut Industry . Mang Rufino , who has been in the balut trade since the 1960s said he is not yet ready to give up on his duck egg business , something his contemporaries have decided to do for the past several years .
“ As selling ducks was no longer profitable and the costs of production were increasing , several duck raisers decided to sell their ducks to interested buyers ,” Mang Rufino said . “ Before , the cost of fresh duck eggs used to be lower than they cost today . Today , many duck raisers are losing money and are not earning any profit even though they have fresh duck eggs to sell to customers .”
In terms of market profitability , balut or duck eggs has an average saleable price of P15 , higher than the prices of regular eggs which range from P5 to P7 only .
Mang Rufino also pointed to the present state of Laguna de Bay , where the population of the ducks ’ natural
by Jose P . Lirios Manila correspondent
food — aquatic shells and snails — have declined due to the worsening water pollution in the lake .
“ The population of shells and snails in Laguna de Bay has steadily gone down and their quality has also deteriorated ,” said Mang Rufino . “ When strong typhoons pass by the Laguna Lake , the shells and snails are covered with mud and silt and duck raisers have to wait for several months for the ducks ’ natural feeds to grow and return to their normal population .”
He also stressed that duck raisers would generally feed their ducks natural palay , aquatic shells and snails . Come harvest time and the rainy season , duck raisers would bring their ducks to the rice fields to feast on the snails , shells and insects . This would mean less expense for the duck raisers .
Today , most duck raisers have abandoned the natural way of feeding and have opted for the hightech way , feeding them duck feeds and duck pellets manufactured by Robina , B-Meg and other animal feeds producers . Because of this , expenses of duck raisers have gone up .
Almost half of the balut businesses based in Pateros have closed down because of these factors . There are also many places in the province of Laguna where a lot of kamaligs ( poultry / duck house made of nipa and bamboo ) are now
talaga Maldives but maybe will save it for better occasion .”
For their next projects , Liza said that they will be doing a movie soon and a show . “ Pero wala pang details , matagal pa po ‘ yung show ,” she stated .
Liza remarked that through their show Dolce Amore , she and Enrique have bonded even more .
“ Definitely kasi marami rin kaming napagdaanang obstacles throughout the show and siguro kasi this year masmature na kaming dalawa pati na ‘ yung character namin sa Dolce mas mature so parang nadadala namin ‘ yun . And also doing , taping , the show since ‘ yung character namin mas mature may mga lessons naiaapply namin sa sarli namin ,” Liza said .•
- K . Cagape , push . com
empty of ducks because of the hard times that have befallen most of the duck raisers .
But Mang Rufino was happy to say that the past couple of years have been good for the balut makers of Pateros because their ducks produced a lot of eggs . Every day , he would supply duck eggs to the balut vendors who would troop to his doorstep .
Mang Rufino , like all other balut makers , finds it difficult to stretch the monthly income that they earn to buy much-needed materials for their balut business . He said that most of the balut makers in Pateros have experienced one problem after another so they decided to give up on the business . Because of the high cost of materials used in the raising of ducks , they realize they cannot gain any profit anymore .
“ But the reason why I haven ’ t given up or quit the balut business is that I pity the balut vendors who trust me and rely on me for their daily supply of duck eggs . Without my help , they will surely lose their only means of earning a decent living ,” said Mang Rufino .
Jose K . Lirios graduated from the University of the East in 1992 , majoring in English . He started as a reporter and wrote for Business World , the Manila Times and Philippines Free Press . “ JP ” is currently a freelance writer in
Manila .•