Philippine's Michael Jordan
By BIP Erwin Miranda
Rey started it all by joining then young racing
institution Pigeon Sportsmen of the Philippines (PSP). And thereafter affiliated
himself to full grown clubs like PHA & PRPF.
He lives with the principle of quality over
quantity and right there he immediately formed his family through the intensive
crossings of lines : van den Brouke, Taiwan, Janssen, deWeerdt, Melucci, Fabry,
Derere and the latest introduction, the Simons.
There in his loft at Caloocan City,
Philippines the systems runs counter against the typical feedings and
medications. From the time he commenced racing
late 1988 he never used medication! 2000 was the year he decided over the
regular vaccination especially against PMV-1 when damages were already been
suffered. In addition with this a routinary shower is being given to birds 2x a
week. Very odd in his system was the non-usage of highly favored imported and
priced vitamins. He only uses a local Vetracin Powder which is soluble in water and often comes in
cheap prices.
His claim for perfection is so constant that his
lines were the same family the other fanciers were using in claiming the top
sheet . Bizarre it may seems again Rey never uses fancy supplements EVEN during
the races. Upon the bird's arrival,
a simple plain water is what awaits
the lone racers. He concentrates
best during the breeding stages and there only he uses Brewer's Yeast mix with
his own feeds. And as he repeatedly pointed out, minerals & calcium should
always be present inside the loft through grits, pickstones and pink mineral
unless one administers Vaccination. Only
PMV-1 and nothing else demands unto him prevention
via early medication. He says continously "its all up to the birds to
recover naturally... for starting in the basketing, there in the air , and upon
homing to the loft they fly alone by themselves".
He let the birds out 3x a day and not more than 30
minutes each. Although he never uses the widowhood system he still seperates the
sexes on their 4th month. As I & my friend Allan discovered
during our visit, 2-3 months old birds were being put under the heat of the sun
for more than 3 hours without water ..This is to "force" the birds'
configuration into adapting the
environment under extreme measures
come longer races.
Rey is not fond of the theories available in the
market. Like the eye, muscle or wing theory he never take heed of any of these
"commercial products". Bloodline is name of the game although he still
considers luck as a factor. "Always breed a medium size bird ... more
advantageous in our tropical country like ours" he cited.
He never cull birds in cases of fractures or any body
disfiguration due to accidents unless such were due to "strong"
illness. This is to secure his efforts of crossing towards his aim to
perfection.
His racing record made him well internationally. 7pm June of
1995, Rey was suddenly visited by a Japanese accompanied by 2 interpreter and a
driver. Exclusively for a 2-day loft visit, the Japanese took 9 of Rey's best
birds. This man "imported them out" to improve his birds he left in
Japan. Previous importation by this Japanese were made from Europe yet he laid
his hat in salute to Rey hoping to win big outhere. After a straight 7 hours
discussion he flew back to Japan.
Some of his victories as Champion:
FPA
89 North Race Aparri Champion & 2nd (only day
birds!
), Rey almost claimed the 1-20 prizes!
1989
PSP
Naga Champion
1990
PSP
Sta Fe Champion
Ilagan Champion
Burgos Champion
Tuguegarao Champion
(4/7)
1991
PSP
Santiago Champion
Tuguegarao Champion
1992
PRPF
Legaspi Champion (YB & OB !)
1st Overall Champion
1995
PRPF Tuguegarao Champion
1st Overall Champion YB
Laoag Champion
1996
Tacloban Champion YB (Solo Winner)
Overall Champion South NRPC
1st Overall Champion
1997
PHA San Francisco Car Winner .
Above cited are some of his achievements as Champion yet it
never justifies Rey's complete performance on record because we just finished
scanning 1/10th of the list of his results!
To conclude with, there are close similarities with this man
and my idol Superstar Michael Jordan although their sports are remotedly
different. While the latter is an epitome of sports in the court, the former
claims princely position in the skies . . .yet both are born to fly.