By root 
Morning in a small Filipino village always begins with the crowing of roosters. For the people here, sabong—cockfighting—is not just entertainment; it is a symbol of life, a way to wrestle with destiny. This is the story of Mario, a man whose life became intertwined with sabong and one special rooster that would change everything.
Mario grew up watching his father, a devoted sabong enthusiast, prepare his roosters for battle. As a boy, he would sit on his father’s shoulders, eyes wide with wonder as two roosters clashed in the arena. He didn’t understand the stakes then, but he remembered the fire in his father’s eyes—the look of a man staring fate in the face.
“Sabong is a battlefield for men,” his father always said. “Winning and losing is fate, but stepping into the arena—that takes courage.”
Mario carried his father’s words with him into adulthood, never realizing how deeply sabong would carve its way into his destiny.
Kanawayon: The Rooster Born of the Storm
When Mario took over his father’s small farm, he raised many roosters, but none like Kanawayon. It was a striking bird—black feathers that shimmered under the sun and eyes that burned with the intensity of a warrior. Kanawayon’s story began on a stormy night.
The winds howled, rain lashed against the tin roofs, and the village was swallowed by the fury of the storm. Concerned for his roosters, Mario grabbed a lantern and rushed to the coop. He found the birds huddled in fear, crouching to escape the raging weather. All except one.
Kanawayon stood in the middle of the storm, head held high, body still and unshaken. The wind whipped at its feathers, but it did not move—defiant, resilient, like a lone soldier facing an invisible enemy.
At that moment, Mario knew this was no ordinary rooster. It was fate’s gift, a true fighter. Kneeling beside Kanawayon, he whispered,
“From today, you and I will fight together. You’ll be my champion.”
The Arena of Destiny
The village sabong match was the event of the year. Men placed their bets, voices filled the air, and the crowd buzzed with excitement. Mario entered the arena with Kanawayon, his face calm but his heart pounding.
Whispers floated through the crowd:
“Can that black rooster win?”
“It’s luck, nothing more.”
The referee gave the signal. Two roosters flew at each other, blades flashing. Kanawayon moved like lightning, dodging and striking with precision. Within moments, its opponent—a red-feathered rooster feared by all—collapsed to the ground, defeated.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Mario stood at the center of the arena, victorious, as if to say he had stared fate in the eye—and won. From that day on, Kanawayon became a legend, and Mario, the man who raised it, became a household name.
The Cruel Hand of Fate
But fate is a trickster. Just when one feels most invincible, it delivers its cruelest blows.
One morning, Mario went to check on his roosters as he always did. He froze when he saw the empty cage. Kanawayon was gone. The coop door hung open, but there were no signs of theft—no noise, no struggle. It was as if the rooster had vanished into thin air.
Mario searched everywhere, asking every villager, every neighbor, but Kanawayon was nowhere to be found. Some whispered that rivals had stolen it. Others claimed it was never meant to stay—that a rooster like Kanawayon was not of this world.
Sitting alone in the empty coop, Mario finally understood. Kanawayon had been a gift, a fleeting moment of glory granted by fate. It was never his to keep.
“All things have their end,” he muttered softly. “What matters is that we fought together, and we won.”
The Wisdom of a Fighter
Years passed, and Mario’s hair turned white. He no longer entered the arena, but he kept his father’s coop, raising roosters as he always had. Young men often visited him, seeking advice on sabong. Mario would smile and say:
“Sabong is not just about winning or losing. It’s a conversation with fate. You can’t control everything, but you can choose how to face it.”
He would tell the story of Kanawayon, the rooster who stood tall in the storm, who fought bravely, and who disappeared when the time was right. For Mario, the true lesson of sabong was not in the battles, but in the courage to step into the arena, to face whatever came—be it victory, defeat, or loss.
Whenever a storm raged, Mario would stand outside his coop, watching his roosters huddle for cover. He waited for that one rooster who, like Kanawayon, would stand firm, unmoving in the face of the storm.
Conclusion: A Song of Fate and Sabong
Mario’s life, like sabong, was a dance between triumph and loss, resilience and acceptance. The story of Kanawayon became a village legend, but its meaning was greater than any victory in the arena. It was about the spirit of a fighter—the ability to face fate with courage, to embrace both success and sorrow, and to move forward.
“Life is like sabong,” Mario would say. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But if you’ve stood on the battlefield, you’re already a winner.”
As the sun set over the village, Mario watched the fields, listening to the distant crowing of roosters. He smiled, for he knew that somewhere out there, another Kanawayon was waiting to rise, ready to face the storm.