Catanduanes Forum
Catanduanes: Your Family Island
Ang Karbaw (Carabao). . .Bow
Subspecies of the water buffalo, associated with farmers for pulling the plow and cart (kanng'a).
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Enjoy the serene beauty of our island, savor our unique cuisine and experience the languid beauty of our culture and our version of the world renowned Filipino Hospitality. Come and visit our Island Province of Catanduanes: Your Family Island, where nature is virtually untouched!
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Dave L. Templonuevo, Jr.
Caraba Beef: Catanduanes' Delicacy
In Catanduanes, meat is not cow's meat. Meat means buffalo meat. The islanders prefer that to cow's meat.
I remembered seeing herds of carabaos in Pancayanan, in Bagamanoc. In Macutal, Rizal, Caragumihan (barangays of Baras) most households would normally own half a dozen or so.
Carabaos is as important to Catandunganons as pigs are to Papua New Guinea. It is the beast of burden, means of transportation, a cargo-animal, it measured the wealth of a family and redeems families in debts.
Then the population grew, families owned motorbikes and gone are our carabaos. Yet demands steep up.
There have been efforts to force cow's meat in the market. New cow breeders were introduced to the Province's Breeding Centers. Programs to propagate cows were pushed but at the end of the day Carabao's meat is still the special treat!
Unless we do something about this animals now thinning in number, Carabao and their meat may just be another story in our textbooks.
There is money in it friends. Take care of our carabaos.
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Next to dogs, carabaos are special to me. I will not forget one we call bulag. When I was growing up, we would borrow Bulag from my father's friend and together we would plow the field, splash together in the river, give me wonderful moments riding him back to his master through the thickest shrubs up the mountains of Macutal while i sing with salvo songs (reason why i sing well, right JOM?).
I still remember my throat would choke and my eyes would ache while forcing back tears everytime I feel bulag's pace quickens as we near "his" home whenever i ride him back to his master. Though he would give me that stare that said more than thank you, i was helpless knowing i can only give him a pat to say everything i wanted to say, to mean thank you everytime we part.
And then one day, 5 kilos of meat reached us from my father's friend. It was bulag!
I remembered turning my head out of the window all choked up with my eyes hurting while pushing tears back... They came in torrents anyway...
Goodbye Bulag!
I left the lunch table unable to eat...
a friend.
Dave L. Templonuevo, Jr.
junsoriao The animal is the
junsoriao
The animal is the farmer's best friend; it does not complain in spite of the punishment (whips and lashes)
inflicted on him as the beast plows the field, moves produce and goods between towns and markets, or
absorbs the sting of those pesky flies feeding on his back.
I could only wish that I have the hide of a carabao. Because even in anger, I can sustain an insult and ignore
the taunts of my fellowman. The Filipino has something to be proud of: (a) the beast of burden or the carabao, (b) the pliant bamboo that sways with the gentle breeze, and (c) the beautiful Filipina whose beauty is beyond compare.
The Filipino male can aspire for all three and he may not have them all in that order. But the woman might have to come in first because she is the foundation of all good things. She represents the future as she bears responsibility for child bearing and the continuance of procreation. The bamboo abounds almost everywhere where streams flow endlessly. With it, one can build a hut and avail of its other potential. The beast may come later. it will serve the needs of man to till the barren earth.
To eat and feast on him is a far cry from my normal expectations. It is the height of man's inhumanity to a creature whose only reason for being is to serve the needs of his master.
My eyes are red and swells with tears as I write my rejoinder. Let us spare the creature and allow him to die of
old age and in peace.
Caraba Beef: Catanduanes' Delicacy
Such a nice short story about 'bulag', kinda touching . . . it's the thought of friendship.
carabao moment
around 10 years ago, when viga still had a bad water problem, my sister and some of our cousins were forced to take a bath in the river near napocor. they were already rinsing their bodies when a carabao got up from a higher portion of the river...they all thought "so much for keeping yourself clean"...hehehe...