The icon of the Philippine gamefowl industry

History of gamefowl in the Philippines

Cockfigthing or sabong has been part of the history and the culture of the Philippines. This sport of two gamebirds trying to outbeat each other has first been recorded in Pigafetta’s first voyage around the world. Jose Rizal devoted an entire chapter on the art of sabong in his 1887 novel, Noli Me Tangere. Dating back to the pre-Spanish times, sabong is played out in public squares throughout the Philippines on Sundays immediately after church, where the ordinary peasant, Juan Tamad, and the land owning Don Ciriaco Torquato meet and place their bets on their playing roosters as equals.

The birth of the icon

Teresita "Tessie" Pe or fondly called as Mrs. Pe by her colleagues in the gamefowl industry grew up in the beautiful island of Coron, Palawan. Her late father, Pe Yuyuk has been a fighting cock afficianado even before the Japanese wartime in Palawan. Yuyuk owned the Coron Cockpit in Coron, Palawan after the Japanese war. He bred the champion lines of gamefowls in the Visayas during this era. The secret of his champion lines were the mixtures of his grains and the herbal concoctions he gives his gamebirds. His herbal concoctions are made by carefully selecting traditional Chinese medicinal roots and leaves that his wife Ong Guan would help him prepare. Ong Guan would prepare special herbal mixtures for Yuyuk for longetivity and good health. Yuyuk applied this principle to his careful concoction to his gamebirds. Among all of Yuyuk’s 10 children, it was his sixth child, Tessie, who inherited his passion for mixing grains and herbs. Tessie would join her father to observe and master the art of gamefowl. Tessie never gambled nor bet a single peso, but she would play around with various grains and her greatest reward was to see her father win using the grains she tried to mix. Even her brothers would always say Tessie is a natural winner. Not everyone has the Midas touch for gamefowl, but Tessie does. And she does it with a heart…Because she was doing it for her late Father….

Humble beginnings

In 1969, Tessie established Progressive Poultry Supply in Malabon. In 1970, she transferred Progressive Poultry Supply to 1013 EDSA, Project 7, Veterans Village to serve her clients better. Her store specializes in gamefowls. In 1973, Rep. Aldeguer of Iloilo convinced her to come out with her own formulation of "7 grains" because he knows Tessie has the heart and passion to bring out the best in all gamefowls.

After a year of careful research and development, Tessie came out with the first Progressive Conditioner Concentrate in the Philippines. When she first launched this product, all sabungeros — from the late Manong Monching Mitra, the late Louie Beltran, to the scions of Bacolod and Negros, to the simple tricycle drivers — would all line up to buy the yellow colored sack of Progressive Conditioner Concentrate. After the Conditioner Concentrate, she came up with the mega hit Progressive Slasher Concentrate. The Slasher was used during the breeding and fighting seasons. Both products are patented with the Bureau of Patents, Trademarks and Technology Transfer with Reg. No. 43798 and 43806. The name Conditioner Concentrate or Slasher is owned by Progressive Poultry Supply and no other company in the industry of agriculture is allowed to use any of those words in their products. According to the legal counsel of the Department of Trade and Industry, anyone using the name Conditioner Concentrate or the word Slasher in their products is liable to legal actions from the Bureau of Patents and from Progressive Poultry Supply.

Tessie created a revolution in the gamefowl industry. Her formulations were always imitated but never equaled. The secret of her success through the years is the dedication of her team. Unlike other fly-by-night poultry supplies, Tessie always has her grains tested for their protein and aflatoxin contents. She is never deceived by looks and she believes in strict quality control even though it will add cost. The winning streak of her client is her utmost concern. Her husband July is very supportive to her passion in creating winners with all her clients’ gamefowls. Tessie treats her clients like her family. The late Manong Monching Mitra or the famous journalist Louie Beltran would call her up late in the evening before a fight to ask which regimen was better for their battle that night.

The legend continues….

Thirty-seven years in the gamefowl industry and being the icon of all sabungeros and trying hard copy cats, Tessie says "imitation is the best form of flattery…" She has now expanded her passion for gamefowl through a new subsidiary called VNJ Distributors, Inc. VNJ distributes the best conditioning aids, antibiotics and technical services to all poultry supplies and sabungeros nationwide. VNJ is very careful in selecting partners and they make sure that all pass the tests of Quality Assurance set by Qualibet Testing Services. Progressive Poultry Supply and VNJ Distribution has tapped the services of Qualibet to assist them technically in all process of their gamefowl production. Tessie is truly an icon of the gamefowl industry because for her gamefowl is not a battlefield, but a match of the true winner. As she would always say, "a torch shall never lose its flame, by helping light another torch…"

Progressive Poultry Supply can be reached at www.progressive.com.ph or tel. 3723636/3723637.