The Ampil brothers (Choi, Joseph & Gerard) of Escalante, Negros Occidental and Cainta, Rizal bagged the 2006 World Slasher Cup II 8-Cock Invitational Derby with an unmatched score of 7.5 points via their entry EYB AIR Assault II, in partnership with Edwin Bacud of Cagayan.
Regarded as the Philippine version of the legendary Goode brothers (Jay, Paul & Joe) of America, the Ampils surprised everyone with their accurate cutting aces.
Sharing runner-up honors with 7 points apiece are LCC of Boy Lechon & Louie Cua and Partners Balani Winslet of Thunderbird Multi-Grain Conditioner endorser Dicky Lim of El Nido, Palawan. Lim’s other entry Snow White Winslet was equally remarkable with a 6-0 win-loss record.
COCKER’S ROOTS:
The Ampils were originally from Cainta, Rizal. Their great grandfather Exequiel Ampil, who was the Mayor of Cainta-Taytay from 1903-1907 and is said to own huge lands in Cainta, Taytay and Antipolo, is apparently where their cockers genes came from, because, according to Choi, the late Exequiel Ampil also owned and operated the first Cainta Cockpit. In addition, Gerard revealed that their grandfather Dr. Jesus Ampil also served as mayor of Cainta for many years from 1938.Their father George Ampil migrated to Negros and later on married the former Esther Maravilla (sister of Jun Maravilla) of Escalante, Negros Occidental where the brothers were born and raised.LOCAL GOODE BROTHERS:The Ampil brothers: Choi, Joseph and Gerard, were already into gamefowl breeding as early as 1989 when they took over the breeding stocks of their maternal uncle Jun Maravilla who adopted Joseph when he was still a baby which explains why he has a different surname from his two siblings. They were so sure about what they were doing that Choi resigned from the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation in 1990, while, Joseph who graduated with a degree of Industrial Engineering from La Salle University – Manila gave up a budding career with Phinma Corp. in 1995. From the beginning, each one knows the role his going to play. Choi, who's more exposed to people took care of marketing and promotion; Joseph, who learned the ropes of breeding through his adopted father Jun Maravilla handled the breeding and farm management aspects, while, Gerard who's a natural handler-trainer and an accomplished knife man goes to the cockpit to fight. Each one gets an equal share of the dividends, but Joseph gets an additional monthly allowance considering that he has to climb to the mountain , where their farm is located, at least twice a week. With this set-up, the Ampils can be easily compared to America's Goode brothers : Jay (the breeder), Joe (the fighter) and Frank (the financial manager). With only the eldest, Jay, surviving, the Goode brothers are still accorded two or three tribute derbies each year in the United States in recognition of their achievements and as a testimony to the enormous respect they enjoy from their peers.
Regarded as the Philippine version of the legendary Goode brothers (Jay, Paul & Joe) of America, the Ampils surprised everyone with their accurate cutting aces.
Sharing runner-up honors with 7 points apiece are LCC of Boy Lechon & Louie Cua and Partners Balani Winslet of Thunderbird Multi-Grain Conditioner endorser Dicky Lim of El Nido, Palawan. Lim’s other entry Snow White Winslet was equally remarkable with a 6-0 win-loss record.
COCKER’S ROOTS:
The Ampils were originally from Cainta, Rizal. Their great grandfather Exequiel Ampil, who was the Mayor of Cainta-Taytay from 1903-1907 and is said to own huge lands in Cainta, Taytay and Antipolo, is apparently where their cockers genes came from, because, according to Choi, the late Exequiel Ampil also owned and operated the first Cainta Cockpit. In addition, Gerard revealed that their grandfather Dr. Jesus Ampil also served as mayor of Cainta for many years from 1938.Their father George Ampil migrated to Negros and later on married the former Esther Maravilla (sister of Jun Maravilla) of Escalante, Negros Occidental where the brothers were born and raised.LOCAL GOODE BROTHERS:The Ampil brothers: Choi, Joseph and Gerard, were already into gamefowl breeding as early as 1989 when they took over the breeding stocks of their maternal uncle Jun Maravilla who adopted Joseph when he was still a baby which explains why he has a different surname from his two siblings. They were so sure about what they were doing that Choi resigned from the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation in 1990, while, Joseph who graduated with a degree of Industrial Engineering from La Salle University – Manila gave up a budding career with Phinma Corp. in 1995. From the beginning, each one knows the role his going to play. Choi, who's more exposed to people took care of marketing and promotion; Joseph, who learned the ropes of breeding through his adopted father Jun Maravilla handled the breeding and farm management aspects, while, Gerard who's a natural handler-trainer and an accomplished knife man goes to the cockpit to fight. Each one gets an equal share of the dividends, but Joseph gets an additional monthly allowance considering that he has to climb to the mountain , where their farm is located, at least twice a week. With this set-up, the Ampils can be easily compared to America's Goode brothers : Jay (the breeder), Joe (the fighter) and Frank (the financial manager). With only the eldest, Jay, surviving, the Goode brothers are still accorded two or three tribute derbies each year in the United States in recognition of their achievements and as a testimony to the enormous respect they enjoy from their peers.
The Ampils were originally from Cainta Rizal. Their great grandfather Exequiel Ampil, who was the Mayor of Cainta Taytay and Antipolo is apparantly where their cockers genes came from because according to Choi, the late Exequiel Ampil also owned and operated the first Cainta Cockpit.
In addition, Gerard revealed that their grandfather Dr. Jesus Ampil also served as mayor of Cainta for many years from 1938. Their father George Ampil migrated to Negros and later on married the former Esther Maravilla (sister of Jun Maravilla) of Escalante, Negros Occidental where the brothers were born and raised. The Ampil brothers : Choi, Joseph and Gerard, were already into gamefowl breeding as early as 1989 when they took over the breeding stocks of their maternal uncle Jun Maravilla who adopted Joseph when he was still a baby which explains why he has a different surname from his two siblings. They were so sure about what they were doing that Choi resigned from the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation in 1990, while, Joseph who graduated with a degree of Industrial Engineering from La Salle University – Manila gave up a budding career with Phinma Corp. in 1995. From the beginning, each one knows the role his going to play. Choi, who's more exposed to people took care of marketing and promotion; Joseph, who learned the ropes of breeding through his adopted father Jun Maravilla handled the breeding and farm management aspects, while, Gerard who's a natural handler-trainer and an accomplished knife man goes to the cockpit to fight. Each one gets an equal share of the dividends, but Joseph gets an additional monthly allowance considering that he has to climb to the mountain , where their farm is located, at least twice a week. With this set-up, the Ampils can be easily compared to America's Goode brothers : Jay (the breeder), Joe (the fighter) and Frank (the financial manager). With only the eldest, Jay, surviving, the Goode brothers are still accorded two or three tribute derbies each year in the United States in recognition of their achievements and as a testimony to the enormous respect they enjoy from their peers. HIT & MISS The Ampils engaged in a hit and miss operation with Maravillas' Lemons, Clarets and Democrats until Joseph received Johnny Jumper broodcock as a gift from his godfather Rudy Diaz of the CD-RD fame in 1992. The produce from that yellow-legged Radio rooster delivered to the Ampils their first major victory : the 1993 Negros Gamefowl Breeders Association's Annual 7-Stag Derby solo crown. Thinking, they had it made, the brothers became complacent that everyone thought they have seen the last of the Ampils after so-so performances in 1994 and 1995 when they delegated the farm chores to their employees. Convinced that no less than their personal attentions and supervisions were needed to get back on track, Joseph resign from his job so he could concentrate on the breeding facets of the operation. FULL SPEED AHEAD In 1997, they were able to arrest the decline and reverse the tide to obscurity with a runner-up finished in that year's NGBA event. They went on to grab the 1997 Breeder of the Year plum though after an equally good showing in the clean-up derby for a total top score of ten points. From then on, the Ampils never looked back. A third NGBA 7-Stag championship was accomplished in 1998 including a second NGBA Breeder of the Year award. 1998 proved to be a glorious year for the trio when they went on to win Balbina Cup 7-Stag Derby, the Balbina Clean-up derby and the Balbina Breeder of the Year title. In recognition of their tremendous success, the Ampil brothers were featured in the Agriculture Magazine (published by the Manila Bulletin) and in ABS-CBN's top-rating program Magandang Gabi Bayan hosted by now Senator Noli de Castro. New bloodline infusions were introduced each year with broodcocks lent by their big time customers. The ones who let the use of their broodcocks are normally accorded the first option to choose from the birds raised out of that particular yard, but, with the productions from their own broodstocks it's on a first-come-first-serve basis.The brothers recorded a fourth NGBA title in 2000. Last stag season was another triumphant year with their second Balbina conquest (both the main and the clean-up competition) capped with the Breeder of the Year plum. A month later, in the 2002 Bakbakan 7-Stag National Derby at the Araneta Coliseum, the Ampils scored 6.5 points for an impressive runner-up finish. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY Despite their incredible accomplishments, the Ampils have kept their production and operation to a modest level. “It's quality over quantity”, Choi revealed. For the first time in 14 years, they raised more than 1,000 stags, because, they have made it a point to increase production at an average of only 50 heads each year. Furthermore, Joseph revealed that every egg is hen-hatched and every chick is nurtured and reared by its mother. The low, but high-quality production is also because they never engage in sister-to-brother mating just to be able to generate more out a proven line. When new yards are tried for the first time, Joseph would pit the offspring against each other armed with short knives to test their courage, power, speed and cutting ability. No less than twenty stags are killed in this process, but the results provide valuable information for their next move. Those lines that proved unworthy of tough competitions are immediately culled. ALL SET With their stags reared in a new virgin 18-hectare range area in Sitio Tabidiao, Bgy. Ma-ao, Bago City, Joseph believes that they are all set for the coming stag season. Joseph divulged that a lot of knowledge he acquired in prawn farming when he was with the Phinma Group have been applied and have proven equally effective in gamefowl-raising. One of which is that a new area will always provide more and better products. Choi disclosed that they would be fielding an average of four entries each in the forthcoming stag derbies hosted by the NGBA, Balbina, Gamefowl Association of Negros (GF-BAN), as well as those scheduled in Davao and Cebu and the 2003 Bakbakan 8-Stag Derby set again at the Araneta Coliseum. When Choi, Joseph & Gerard say they are ready for battle, they surely mean it and why not, they have the records to back it up. Ampil Bros. Conditioning is purely natural. We use high quality feeds, multivitamins and B-Complex injectables. For more than a decade, we tried all conditioning approach but we saw that the best conditioning method is the natural way. We think that the most important thing to us is our stag's upbringing. A good foundation (1 to 4 months ) of our stags will easily give us good results. |