Roosterman No. 11; January, 2012
Roosterman’ s top cover story of 2011
Princess of Tari
F irebird
Game Farm is home to Mr. Leandro
" Biboy " Enriquez ' famous game birds. It is a vast 20- hectare property situated in the mountainous province of Tanay, Rizal in the Philippines. It is home to one of the more respected chicken stables in the country as its owner belongs to the highest echelon of Filipino cockers and breeders.
Barugo is a town in the northern coastal part of Leyte facing Carigara Bay, 50 kilometers northwest of Tacloban City, whose history dates back to the early days of Spanish occupation.
What do these places, obviously fard etached from each other, have in common? Well, a 23 year-old lass who hails from Barugo and works with Firebird Game Farm. Unlikely? Maybe. But such is the case.
Yes, it seems farfetched for Robie Yu Panis, to end up working at a game farm. With her looks, Robie would have blended better with the fineries which define the fashion world than the chaotic order that prevails in the cockpits. And, far more unimaginable is the fact that her job includes her actually tying the deadly tari’ Right, Robie is a lady mananari.
However Robie took up the challenge that many men in the sabong world feared to dare. She indeed ties the knife.
What made her do it? Here’ s what she said: Challenging. Yes, super! Knowing that I ' m in the world of '' Barakos '' hehe... Parang I ' m their Princess. haha..., Robie declared. quickly added. Aside from being Firebird’ s mananari, Robie, who now resides in Marikina City also acts as farm assistant of Mr. Enriquez. She, in addition, takes care of purchasing and answers inquiries.
When asked by Roosterman how she finds the whole job, she admitted: To be honest mahirap talaga, pero enjoy naman. No dull moments. Exciting? Super! as I said in one of my posts in Facebook, Watching my rooster fight in the pit is like watching Cong. Manny Pacquiao box in the ring..
But maybe, more than all else, what she enjoys most on the job are the memorable moments she experiences from time to time.
Most memorable experiences she enumerated to Roosterman were the following:
. Oh my! sobrang madami po.( memorable experiences) First nung ma feature kami ng Discovery Channel, sobrang flattered talaga kami at International TV show pa yung nag featured sa amin.
Second; Kung saan2x kami nakakarating especially ako because of '' Sabong '' Third; Marami akong nakikilalang tao na mga Big Time at tinitingala sa lipunan. Madalas ko ma- encounter o makausap pa sa Cockpit man o sa Farm.
Yun nga lang medyo tense to the highest level … talaga pag manok mo at ikaw ang nagtari. Parang every time na pumapalo sya, parang ako din ang pumapalo. Iba ang tension ko noon compared ngaun na ako na mismo ang naglalagay ng knife, she
Lastly ang sarap ng feeling na marami ang humahanga at nagbibigay ng support sayo. Yun nga lang mas lumiit ang mundong ginagalawan ko, konting post ko lang madami ang nag re-react. hehe....
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