A Cultural Tour...With Animals...

I’ve been a bit of a slacker in posting about our trip to the Philippines in March. Well, I’ve finally gotten around to taking a look at J’s pictures from the trip and they’ve managed to refresh my memory of the awesome time we had.

Now, as you can imagine as with anywhere in the world, the Filipinos are wonderful people, with their own cultures, beliefs and ways of doing things. As tourists, it’s not for us to judge something different as being right or wrong. In my opinion, it’s simply best to sit back and observe what other cultures have to offer us. If you open your mind, you just might be entertained and you may even learn something in the process.

One tidbit I’ve picked up from travelling to the Philippines is that they are creative with transporting their livestock and apparently do not have a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) chapter there. Why? Well, take a look at what we observed in our travels. ..

I should point out that some of these methods are not unique to the Philippines. I’ve observed similar things in other countries, although the rooster and the piggies are new to me.

Malatapay Market

Our day at the Malatapay market was a site to behold – you could buy absolutely everything there from livestock to octopus to vegetables and even a leash for your rooster. Yes, a leash. Which brings us to our next series of photos…

One early morning J was down at the beach getting ready to photograph the sunrise. He sees this guy come walking up to the water with a rooster tucked under his arm. J’s first thought was, well this rooster is about to get his neck rung and the guy intends to wash it in the water. Well to J’s surprise, the guy tosses into the water and the rooster lands and swims back to shore. The guy proceeds to pick it up and tosses it out again, the rooster swims back to shore.

What’s the purpose of all this? Well, cockfighting is very common in the Philippines and this gentleman was simply doing a little strength training with his bird. Hmmm, who knew? By the way, in case you are wondering, we asked what happens to the losing bird and apparently – it goes for soup.

mid-toss...

swimming to shore...

safe and sound (for now)...

This man walked his Brahman cow on the beach twice a day – we usually only observed him in the evening. I suspect he took him to greener pastures during the day and in the evening, brought him home.

A Man and his cow...

And the last photo reminds me of the little piggy poem.

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,


This little piggy had roast beef,


This little piggy had none,


This little piggy went wee, wee, wee…all the way home.




Wee, wee, wee...(by the way – they were alive at the time of transport)

There you have it…a cultural trip with the most common of the farm animals in the Philippines.