“PALABUNUTAN” (Ducks and Chicken Trading Philippines)

“PALABUNUTAN”
(Ducks and Chicken Trading Philippines)



Philippines are such a great place wherein you were able to celebrate a lot of Holidays in different parts of our country. Since my childhood I enjoy Fiesta celebration a lot, for this occasion provide us a carnival, toy bazaar stage performances and the so called "Palabunutan"(to pick or to draw) wherein you just have to get a paper out of the box and put it in water to let you know you win over the game... and the price with this? Those baby ducks or chickens with different colour... Imagine how they suffer to put in the tub just to have colour and look great to attract kids. Another bad news here is this game was for kids about 4 to 12 years old, and probably we all know that without proper guidance these kids can’t raise those so called price from this palabunutan.

In my own experience we can’t simply judge kids who raise baby chickens and ducks but as I notice even now not all the kids can raise nor care well with their pets specially baby chickens and ducklings. Because in my own eyes I actually saw some of them playing with their chicks and ducks juggling, slapping, and putting into plastic bags, bottles etc. considering these living things as their toys to the point that those innocent animals turn into death.

I and my sister actually have our own baby chicken when we were in grade school mine is yellow and to my youngest sister is red, as day passing by the chicken grows well. One morning my sisters so much disappointed seeing her chicken becomes yellow, she blame me thinking that swap I it with mine but my father explains it to her that the red dye actually fades in time the chicks are supposed to be yellow, while she saw mine having the same colour we end up laughing at it together.

We were so much happy having this pet. But this nightmare come to both of us, point in time come that my father took it from us and cook it for adobo. My father explains that chicken was meant to die if he will not kill it for our food we might not get too used at it and will die sooner as it grows old, in that time I and my sister attached in our pets. We hardly accept the fact that it has to be killed as it grows old and sooner it will die. My heart bruises while I saw my father eating my pet. As I grow older I understand that chicken was meant to be our food so I decided not to pet one.

My sympathy to those living things, every time I saw “palabunutan” few questions come in my mind.
Do they deserve to be in that way? Do they need to suffer to death in the hands of innocent children? And the fact that they put colour in those chicks it’s so inhumane they suffer just to attract children to use them as their toys. It is enough that those animals provide us human the daily food we need to live? This questions leaves in my head blank.

I know I can’t do anything about this; all I can do is to talk to children every time I saw holding their pet from palabunutan. I really can’t blame them they are just kids, And for now I don’t talk to the trader of those “palabunutan” because when I try to talk to one he gets angry with me and told me that mind my own business.

Are we really living for ourselves? Aren’t we sometimes can think we are being selfish busy making money without noticing that we are doing harm to others? Oh well I am not perfect but at least I have this heart for Innocent animals. And yet I still believe that the world is not just for us Humans. Every living thing has its rights in this world that God provide us and every right associated with responsibility.