MAR NARTEA GAMEFARM

MAR NARTEA GAMEFARM is a tribute to MARDONIO QUEBEC NARTEA Sr. whose legacy in cockfighting & breeding gamefowls lives on with his children & grandchildren. MAR/AYDING was only a backyard breeder so that his children created this GAMEFARM in HIS MEMORY. Mardonio Nartea, Mar or Ayding to his friends and fellow sabungeros, was not an obsessive sabong aficionado. He was a farmer and fisherman in his youth, the very trades he lived with to raise his family of 12 children. While his better-half, Pastora “Toling” Guirindola Nartea, pursued her studies and became a public school teacher. Together they were able to send their children to school, with the encouragement that it is only education which they can give them as inheritance since the couple had no properties to bequeath other than the fighting cocks.

Sabong was merely Mardonio’s pastime, his Sunday school as he fondly called it. He didn’t go to the cockpit to plainly gamble, but to make it another means of livelihood for him and his family, more particularly to make a viand out of the won rooster after every sabong he went to. And he rarely went to any cockpit/sabungan without a fighting cock of his own. He seldom bet on other people’s fighting cocks. Though there were times that he attended cockfighting derbies without an entry (since joining in one involved shelling out a lot of money for entry fee alone and the required minimum bet), but to simply watch it and bet a little. He ended up winning bets most of the time to the merriment of his family. Sabong only became his main trade as he aged and could no longer plough the field or catch some fish. The Sunday school routine became from a pastime to somewhat his professional craft. He raised his own gamefowls himself in his own backyard with the help of all of his children, particularly Rodolfo and Mardonio Jr. He started them young in cockfighting and became his official knifemen or gaffers to ensure that he would not fall prey to any sabong trickery.

Being a backyard breeder, Mar started pitting just ordinary roosters, the so-called bisayá in local parlance. Later on as he made some petty savings through his winnings with his native roosters, he started to purchase crossbred fighting cocks. Most of these fighting cocks came from Camotes Island brought to him by his cousin Domiciano “Doming” Sicadsicad, which sometimes were just given to Mar by Doming as a gift. Having no ample means, he could not buy expensive and quality fighting cocks of pure bloodlines during his time. Mar has started breeding his native chickens with a few cross bloodlines in his backyard, such as the Lemon Democrat Hatch and Grey Democrat Hatch cocks. He also experimented on the outcome of inter-crossing the cocks and pullets from them. Thus, he produced a lot of so-called "mestizo" cocks and hens. So far he got what was important to him: to win in the cockfight.

There were times when Mar would pit again the same fighting cock should it win once unscathed, that is, without suffering any wound/injury. He would end up with two or three wins in one sabong day using the same uninjured fighting cock. Mar would not stop until his prized rooster would have not suffered an injury or lose to its opponent cock. Or, even better, he would not stop until nobody dares to challenge him and his fighting cock anymore in that cockpit. The Lemon Democrat Hatch and Grey Democrat Hatch crosses bred to his bisayá fowls proved to give Mar winning lines. But most of the time it was from the Grey Democrat Hatch line that would attain such feat of heaping several wins in one afternoon of sabong. There were some few "TALISAYONs" of the same crossed bloodline of Grey Democrat Hatch that won up to 12 times in different cockpit arenas in Leyte. The TALISAYONs were Mar's favorites and whose offsprings were bequeathed to his children to perpetuate their winning line. Being a “sabong family”, broodcocks and broodhens have been passed on to all of Mar’s sabong enthusiast children and grandchildren for breeding purposes. Some also have been given to his friends to be bred. That’s what Mar was, he always shared his blessings to family, relatives and friends.

Mar’s eldest son Rodolfo or Intoy started accompanying his father to the cockpit at the age of 7. Later on he learned the craft as gaffer/knifeman and at 12 years old Intoy became known in the local cockpit as the gaffer kid or “Batang Magtatadi”. At first he was only doing it for his father’s fighting cocks. However, having realized that he could make money with such talent, he frequented the cockpit even when his father has no rooster to fight for the day. And he earned some money while putting the gaff/knife to other people’s fighting cocks. Now Intoy, a seaman-instructor by profession, is a semi-retired cocker. He only keeps in his yard two or three roosters to reminisce his old habit.

Mardonio Jr. or Bebot has inherited his father’s penchant for breeding and training gamefowls. And like his father Mar, Bebot made cockfighting/sabong not only his pastime but also a livelihood to add up to his meager income as a public servant. Early in his childhood Bebot frequented the cockpit too as his father's handler and then learned the craft as gaffer/knifeman to substitute his brother Intoy. Bebot has had a Democrat Hatch rooster that won him 17 times which he named Yoyo but was known in several pits as "Tyson" for its lots of wins. Bebot also acquired gamefowls and bred them in his backyard. Some of these were gifts from his friend, Atty. Ari G. Larrazabal. There was one gift pullet, “Balaw” or DOM bloodline that produced many winner stags and cocks not only in hackfights but also in derbies. Now Bebot made it his broodhen to perpetuate its winning line. And true enough, the stags and cocks that this Balaw broodhen has produced became winners not only for Bebot but also for his brother Carlo who borrowed the same broodhen to add up materials for his own breeding. Also, Bebot was gifted with some Gold chicks by the very man who made Ormoc Gold famous, Bernie Tacoy himself. Bebot raised them until he was able to breed Gold chickens which also brought in lots of winnings through their offsprings. A Gold pullet was not only bred in Bebot's backyard but also in that of his nephew, Leo Angelo. Bebot has also passed on the craft as breeder and gaffer to his youngest son, Marlu, whom he taught with the gaff at age 8. And at 9 years old, Marlu became Bebot's official knifeman/gaffer. Marlu now takes charge in all of the breeding and training of gamefowls at their backyard.

Also Mar's son Carlo, a medical doctor by profession, has made sabong his pastime like his father. He continued to breed in the same ancestral house in which Mar has bred his gamefowls. Carlo once borrowed his brother Bebot’s Balaw broodhen and made it one of the foundations of his backyard breeding. He too produced winning battle cocks and stags not only in hackfights but also in derbies. Now he maintains its strain along with other acquired bloodlines in his backyard. Being a doctor himself, Carlo is the one who administers the vaccines to his gamefowls and treats them whenever they get sick. He takes good care of them so that they have also given him what he wanted: to win in every cockfight they are pitted into. True enough, his prized roosters gave him lots of winnings since becoming a sabungero some years ago. He ended up with 5 wins and 2 losses in a 7-stag derby he joined into in November 2012. Carlo also was gifted with chickens by Atty. Larrazabal which he now added in his brood materials in his yard.

Another grandson of Mar who is a sabong aficionado is Leo Angelo, the second son of his eldest daughter, Imelda. Having grown up in the company of his grandfather, Leo learned to breed and train gamefowls early in his childhood. He also learned the gaffer’s craft and has put the gaff by himself to his own fighting cocks. He also bred the Gold broodhen that gave him a lot of winning cocks and stags. Now, despite being on the seven seas for work, he manages his own fighting cocks bred in his mom’s backyard. His brother, Lemuel Carlo, also helps him tend his fighting cocks. Perhaps, had Imelda been born a boy to Mar, she would probably have ended up a cockfighting/sabong enthusiast herself.

Mar has taught all his children to help him tend his gamefowls. His last two boys, Romeo and Antonio were not sabong fanatics at first, but they too learned how things are done at an early age as they accompanied their father to the cockpit as his helpers. Even Mar’s daughters Imelda, Fe Cerylda, Thelma, Norma, Sara, Pastora and Ofelia learned to feed and bath their father’s fighting cocks. Growing up and being taught that you get to eat on what your pet cocks have won in its fights, one could learn his/her father’s craft by necessity. Hence, all of Mar’s children were either handlers or feeders of his fighting cocks raised in his backyard.

While Romeo and Antonio grew up not as sabong aficionados, still both dreamed once to send their father loaded with huge sums of money and with the best fighting cocks there were in the world. This has remained only a dream, of course, as Mar joined his Creator in April 25, 2006 without having enjoyed what his two youngest children have planned for him. So Mar’s children have created this gamefarm in his honor to continue breeding fighting cocks with the aim of perpetuating Mar's legacy, particularly his outlook on sabong not as plain gambling in itself but as a source of livelihood for the family.

MAR NARTEA GAMEFARM, while it takes the name of the Nartea Family’s sabong patriarch, also stands for the three of Mar’s children’s initials: Mardonio Jr., Antonio and Romeo (thus, MAR), who all have agreed to make the dream gamefarm a reality.

MAR NARTEA GAMEFARM now hosts to different bloodlines ranging from Mar’s preserved winning lines of the TALISAYONs' stock and Bebot's Yoyo-Tyson lineage along with the Balaw broodhen, and the OrmocGold, plus those acquired from other gamefarms in this "sabong" country. Most of the brood materials came from BLARS Gamefarm of Bobby Rosales in Lipa City, Batangas. Others are from Firebird Gamefarm of Biboy Enriquez in Tanay, Rizal; Liza Galore Gamefarm of Eddie Araneta in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; 3M Araneta Gamefarm of Manny Araneta in Binangonan, Rizal; RBSugbo of Blakliz creator Rey Bajenting with Scorpion Ox Gamefarm of Steve Sarmago; JC-BER M-16 Gamefarm of Jeoffrey Bermudez in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Samson Gamefarm of Edwin Samson in Antipolo City; Alson Gamefarm of Allan Samson in Cogeo, Rizal; JayR Latayan's Gamefowls in Teresa, Rizal; JM Venum Gamefowls of Jun Mejia in Marikina City; Swiftblade Gamefowls of Julius Draculan in Quezon City; and DTK Gamefarm of Joseph “Joey” Cobico in Mexico, Pampanga.

Paragmanok ako sugad han akon amay

An akon pagmanok usa nga pamaagi hin pagpasidungog han akon amay nga parabulang, hi Mardonio Quebec Nartea, Sr.  Kun diri tungod ha iya diri ako nahihibaro bahin hin pagmanok ngan diri liwat ako magkakainteres hin pagmanok.  An akon la ungara hinin akon pagsulod hin pagmanok sugad han akon mga kabugtoan amo an paghatag hin maupay nga ngaran para han akon amay dinhi hini nga iya nagin paborito nga libangan, an pagmangno hin manok nga iburulang.  Hiya nag-arog hin mga manok bisaya nga iya iginpades hin mga mestizo nga hatag ha iya han iya mga kasangkayan, labi na gud han iya patod nga hi Domiciano Sicadsicad.  An iya mga nagin paborito ngan magdaug nga manok amo an lahi han Talisayon nga Hatch Democrat.  Komo hiya nakakarawat hin manok han iya mga kasangkayan, hiya liwat waray maglamot hin paghatag hin manok ngadto han ira.  Ngan hiya usa nga parabulang nga diri paghuygo an panuyo kundi an paglibang ngan panurasura la han bihag nga marasa nga sumsuman pades han bahal nga tuba.