With Mandaue City as the possible franchise situs of greyhound racing this side of gambling toyland, one's ears perked up to Tony Velasquez' "Crossroads" featured by ABS-CBN on August 16th. His guests were Rep. Benhur Salimbangon as sponsoring solon - why not for his own 4th district? - and oppositors Senator Jamby Madrigal and a certain Anna Cabrera.
First off, logical common sense with perhaps a prick of official courtesy and respect, dictates that the bonafide "taga-Mandaue" - be they public officials or private citizens - ought to have also been invited as it is their own "Mandaue" that is made the controversial venue.
Corollarily, it follows that having passed through the lower house, the greyhound racing bill is with the approval and/or the knowledge of Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, the Mandauehanon lawmaker. Admittedly, greyhound racing isn't for sports or entertainment per se.
Shorn of any pretense of generating employment as Salimbangon weakly argued without going through syllogism, it is a vicious game of gambling that only the rich can afford. While such vice may be less evil than, say, prostitution, or designation of red light districts, have lawmakers the exclusive prerogative to choose which place to make as gambling situs without the inhabitants - the local officialdom down the barangay level - being first made to have their say?
With deference to Rep. Salimbangon, he appears to have sketchy facts on greyhound racing, except for a passing observation of the sports hobby of the filthy rich in Macau, yonder Hong Kong. What he kept on invoking is for a Commission to oversee the gambling luxury to take care of things. In short, his selling spiel was quite unsatisfactory, like, his opinion that retired greyhounds could be shipped back to the country of origin which is doubtful as a fact.
It was Cabrera who revealed the important info on greyhound racing, such as: 35 states in USA have banned it; a greyhound racer is good only until age 3 to 4 at most, and thereafter, their likely fate is dog meat; only less than 1/10 of retired greyhound racers in the United Kingdom are thereafter "adopted" as they are expensive to maintain, and needing ample space for them to exercise by running or move around.
Senator Jamby Madrigal may sound quirky sometimes, but her opposition to greyhound racing is logical. The difficulty of maintaining a greyhound as a pet is ample reason enough to oppose, based on her own experience owning a greyhound given her by a friend. She also made mention that like professional athletes who take drug enhancers on the sly, greyhound racers are also made to take performance-enhancing drugs that are taboo.
Perhaps the most telling argument against greyhound racing in Mandaue, or elsewhere, is that it is another gambling vice that has to be avoided like a plague. Say, except for the wealthy gamblers who make it just a hobby, what possible social benefit does it bring to the community?
Equally convincing is that greyhound racing imposes cruelty to the animals with strict and regimented training. At the average racing age of 3 years out of 13 to 15 normal lifetime, and "adoption" of a retired racer so rare, their final fate of animal cruelty is dog meat.
Perhaps, what Salimbangon and other supporters of the bill could not have factored in is the unique Mandaue culture and its compassionate community not only for fellow beings, but also for animals. Yes, there are "taga-Mandaue" who dabble in gambling, but the mainstream Mandauehanons frown on gambling.
It's gratifying that the committee of Senator Bong Revilla who, incidentally, has not invited oppositors to the bill in the Senate hearing, will find a hard time mustering the numbers. Senator Jamby says that at her reckoning, even if a committee version reaches the plenary, no less than 12 senators would thumb down the despicable greyhound racing bill. What they need to reflect on is: How does Mandaue feel about the bill?
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Email: lparadiangjr@yahoo.com