chickens over dinner, music over beer

it didn't take too long that even before the sun had set, the group decided to eat outside in what might be considered a reputable restaurant in tacurong - offering a variety of dishes from litson manok to sinigang na isda to tsapsuy - which we undoubtedly ordered as a fitting humble celebration after a long tiring sojourn to a remote barangay in nearby municipality of bagumbayan.

"lami kaayo kining manok!"

"mao ba."

"i was just thinking, pariho ba gidak-on tanang manok sa restaurants? halimbawa, dire or sa jollibee?"

"opkors! naa'y standards mga restaurants sa size ng mga manok."

"are you sure? para sa kin, malabong saktong pare-pareho. Unsaon man karapatan tanang manok nga mahimong niwang, bug-at or lainlain dili pareho ang porma?"

"siryus ka bai?"

"yan ang problema. tan-aw nato sa manok mabaw. one day, mag-revenge mga manok, just think of it, a chicken armed struggle!"

"that's not possible. every 45 days, pinapatay na mga manok. unsa mahimong epekto ni sa tawo??"

"what if all chickens decide to kill themselves outright? mahimo mo ba sa pagkaon sang double-dead chicken?"

"sus! naa pork, beef og fish!"

"and what if they also join in the chicken's armed struggle?"

"mga buang ba kayo? chicken armed struggle? nabun-og ba kayo kanina sa motor? way klaro!"

"sa tanaw ninyo! i'm sure you've all heard of cows jumping off cliffs to kill themselves, chickens that intentionally cross the streets to get run over or chicken that overfeed themselves, pigs that go crazy and berserk, fish that force themselves out of the water to die. those are the signs!"

"do you mean they all intended those to happen? sabi sa dyaryo, aksidente ang mga yun."

"alam niyo bakit tumataas ang presyo ng pagkain, nauubos daw supply ng bigas? why there are still so many people in the world going hungry? the struggle has started long before but the signs are ever present today."

"and what do chickens have to do with the soaring prices?"

"they're all connected - bigas, mais, kamote, prutas, baboy, manok, isda, baka - it's one big conspiracy for the world to recognize and respect their - identities..."

"you're nuts! if that's true, and i'm nuts asking this, but are we doing something to prevent this from happening? and how in the first place do we communicate to them?"

"actually we're not doing anything substantial so far. it's really saddening - kaluoy jud sila tanan."

"coincidence lang. dapat nga thankful sila kasi we make use of our knowledge and techniques so they don't go hungry. Naa manok ba magtrabaho para pagka-on? they don't work and they don't go hungry. what more can you ask for?"

"and there shows our high regard for ourselves, we think the world can't go on living without us but we've actually managed to make the world more miserable. sa manok, they can still live even without us, and far better off being free and happy. But now, they live miserably in cages and being overfed. If before, magenjoy sila magpahabol at magpahuli, karon, unsa pa ba relevance nila?"

"pipol, tama na yan. di ata tama mag-away kayo about chickens over dinner. lipat tayo didto sa sinko."

it never did take too long that the group found themselves traversing the semi-darkness towards a far table with a remarkable overview of the stage at baryo sinko. over bottles of colt45, and minus a long far-fetched discourse on chickens and rights, they managed to keep peace in seeming awe at the dancing and music from three lady performers - the oldest among the three which he conveniently ascribed the name of viva senora would roughly convert to the age of forty-five or more, sporting a black skirt that nearly translated into an underskirt, a black brassiere-like vest that covered pretty much what needed to be covered, and tall black boots - well-figured body that looked aged underneath powder and cosmetics; the second nicked geraldine was younger probably at her early twenties branded already by the locals with her distinctly "her" dance and her repetitively long glances at the mirror to fix herself after every song performance - very self-conscious, morena and angelic, and definitely able-bodied, sported a black shirt-like blouse and long jeans on tall sandals; the third he called tempest was probably the most divine in terms of performance, skill and the ability to drive your innermost passion to beast-like - wearing dark vest-like top and a mini-skirt - not too skimpy to taint disrespect but just above expectations to reveal her navel and thighs as a flavor to awaken the less imaginative minds.

"we have another request, way back into love. thank you...," which actually sounded more like "wihanarikwist, way back into love..."

"bai, i tell you i never understood what she said but she's just hot. i think that's the song we requested."

"manguwag na ta unya ba? hehehe"

"seryus bai! sa ila? kay tigulang na usa sa ilaha ba? around late 40's! dili ba sila maghukas diri?"

"dili diri. didto ta sa usa, duol diri. or didto sa isulan."

"all along, akala ko controversial ang sinko. controversial diay kay tigulang jud ang performer og murag way na baro!"

"okey bai. til sunrise na to og magjigjag na ta tanan pag-uli!"

and all along, he thought, he only wanted a way back into falling in love. chickens over dinner, music over beer, the more he found himself lost in a blackhole of searching for the best opportunity to settle down.