There are two kinds of gamefowl breeders. The first are the breeders that good chickens made. The second are the breeders that made good chickens. They are not so easy to tell from one and the other for both score pretty well in the derbies, and could well be famous.
Yes there are those who are famous because of breeding chickens of tested bloodlines. And, there are those who make their own bloodlines. One of the champions of last year’s 8-stag derby of the Cebu Gamefowl Breeders Association (CEGBA) is one of the latter kind.
Ben Dimaano, of Zamboanga and Cebu, fielding two entries scored 14 out of 16 fights, with one of the entries scoring 8 straight wins to bag a share of the championship prize.
Ben is no ordinary breeder. He loves good chickens and he knows how to make them, thus he told Sabong Pinoy during an interview in his farm in the mountains of barangay Agsungot, Cebu City.
While in Zamboanga, he had won back-to-back championships in the El Dia de Zamboanga derby in the years 2004 and 2005. Then, in his first year of breeding in Cebu, he annexed the Cegba plum, serving notice that he deserved to be taken seriously as someone to reckon with in the near future, which from the looks of it, this near future, is about now.
Besides his natural ability to perceive good mating combinations, honed up by years of high caliber chessplaying as one of the country’s top junior players at one time, Ben earned a degree from UP los Banos that helped him in his breeding operations. And, he already has 25 years breeding experience in Zamboanga with him when he came to Cebu. Solid credentials. Plus the fact that he spent a lot for breeding materials. Yet, most of these materials were rarely used. And if ever, just for infusion into his mainstays, the Dimaano Black and the Dimaano whitehacle strain.
In the recent stag derbies, Ben scored 15 wins and 3 losses. His blacks went 4 wins out of 4 fights. On the otherhand, his whitehacle strain that came from a 13-time winner from a Zamboanga breeder scored pretty good as well. These two lines constitute the backbone of the Dimaano breeding program.
“My method only make use of at most ¼ of the other bloods. Three-fourths of either my black or my whitehacle and ¼ of another good blood makes my formula for success’ he claimed.
His views on breeding and even life as a whole is quite different from most. This makes him a colorful fellow who minces no words. Among friends there is this famous quote of his. One time in the course of lenghty chicken talk, a friend who was fascinated by Ben’s self-confidence asked; “ What if you’re breeding would fail?”
Immediately Ben quipped: “ Ask that question to mortals.” This has now become a favorite of friends who wants to quote him.
One of the things he told Sabong Pinoy was that many breeding operations fail for lack of a good breeding program. One aspect that he is good at, he claimed. He could immediately foretell if a particular mating would be a downright failure. Conversely he also can tell outright if a mating will prove good.
A friend who frequently consult with him, Rey Bajenting of RB Sugbo Gamefowl Technology, a breeder himself, and gamefowl journalist, columnist, and author, could attest to this.
In a booklet he wrote, Rey admitted to the fact that Ben has taught him a lot in breeding. That he learned more from listening to Ben than in his almost 40 years in cockfighting. Rey also admitted that his two own bloodlines the ponkans and the blakliz has tremendously improved lately by following Ben’s breeding and mating suggestions. These two RB Sugbo bloodlines serve as poorman’s champions as most of those who avail of them are ordinary sabungeros because of its very affordable prices. And, also because Rey heads a 10,000- member nationwide organization of common sabungeros called Masang Nagmamanok or MANA.
“Ben is a rare breed,” said rey “he tells you before it happens.”
True enough, Ben is very much available for consultation and will readily help friends in their breeding. He aways lends his ideas and experience to others. According to him, gamefowl breeders should be helping each other, not competing with one another. The tournaments, derbies and competition are incidental, the goal should be to improve the different breeds of gamefowl by cooperation.
He also always gives the best to his buyers. “They always get more than their money’s worth,” Ben said.
“I sell broodcocks for P20-30 thousand, hens at P10 or 15 thousand. And what I give are worth more than the price. I also buy expensive materials and most times use just one-fourth of the blood. Then I put in priceless breeding expertise. . . that should make my chickens expensive too,” he continued.
He has acquired a lot of imported and local lines but he didn’t buy them for their famous bloodline names or because the breeders were well known but because he like the individual family or the particular cock or hen. He bought what he liked regardless of the name of the breed or the fame of the breeder. He based what he like on its potential to contribute to his breeding program.
With the victory of Jun Pe in the recent bakabakan 10-stag championship, scoring 10 straight wins and the nine-point performance of Cano Daniel in the same tournament, Zamboanga breeders are staging a great comeback into the national cocking scene. Ben is looking forward to be part of it.