Cattle Auction

I’ve been wanting to attend the cattle auction. I finally was able to do so today. I left the hotel at 5:15 am while Tagaytay was still covered with thick fog.

The informal auction or trading is held every Monday in Barangay Luksuhin in Alfonso, Cavite starting as early as 4 in the morning. Sometimes the negotiations start at 3 am.

We arrived at the site at 5:30 am. Tama lang yung oras. If too early, antokk pa ako, if too late, the good ones would be gone and the skinny ones, may gasgas or with some kind of skin lesions would be left behind.

It was a man’s world. I was the only female who probably dared jump into a sea of smoking men and mooing cows.

Twice I bravely asked two burly men to move away from me because they were puffing cigarettes too close to my face.

One trader tried but failed to convince me into buying his twin calf. My goal is to mate cows so how would I be able to mate siblings? Incestous cow relationship.

This big 3 year old male Brahman cattle is up for grabs for P70,000.  He just needs some body scrub and he’ll be ready for the market.  Gwapo na yan. #Beef steak #bistik

It was difficult to breathe during the first half hour of my arrival. At least a dozen men surrounded me, standing half-inch away from me. They were practically ganging up on me trying to overwhelm me and influence my price points. I asked them point blank “magkakasama kayo? Grupo kayo?” I asked that to stop them from pretending that they were either buyers or sellers. One cow vendor normally has 5 companions who try to influence a buyer’s decision.
I also asked two men who kept following me around and whispering in my ears, “mam, yan maganda yang baka, etcetera etcetera”.
Me—–“Ano kayo mga attorney?” They both laughed. Buking. They were like informal sales persons or marketing and promotion guys of the cattle vendor. “Mam, ayan puro yan”. “Kunin mo na yan 30 thousand lang, mura na yan”. When I told them that my budget was 18k, half of the men who surrounded me disappeared. When I told the remaining 6 that I was still waiting for my boss who would be the one to choose which cow and decide on the price, the remaining guys left me too. Hay salamat. Now I could breathe.

When I told the guy that I preferred a white cow, he said “mam puti yan, pag tumanda na yan, puputi na rin yung balahibo”.

Representatives from the local government were on site for the issuance of transfer registrations which cost 100 pesos per cow.

My boss kuno is actually our caretaker.  He hired a jeepney converted for cow deliveries for P600 to bring Daisy to the farm. I paid P150 for the rope and another P150 for the cow’s nose piercing. I didn’t watch while they were doing it, I pitied the cow. It must have been painful.

After Daisy left, I stayed behind at the auction site hoping to find a cute and pandakekok horse and a baby carabao (guya) but after waiting for half hour, I left na kasi someone told me baka daw walang darating ngayon.

It was already 7 am and getting warmer. A group of big cows arrived and they were kind of unruly. One kept moving its head and accidentally touched my t-shirt sleeves. Nay ko. When I reached my hotel room, amoy na amoy baka ako.

I cleaned my slippers using toothbrush, shampoo and soap. I scrubbed it at least 10 times. Amoy baka.