By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno ‘Magsie’ Peña lauded Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., after the latter revealed plans to purchase buffaloes from Australia.
In an e-mail sent by Peña to Watchmen Daily Journal, the town official said the governor has come to his senses after four years, and is happy that Marañon finally listened to his advice.
“In 2013 I told him that instead of buying sheep, we should buy water buffaloes from Australia,” Peña said.
Peña said Australian buffaloes are almost the same but bigger in size than the locally raised buffalo or more commonly known to Filipinos as the Carabao.
The mayor added, Marañon made a wise decision, as the local stocks need a new bloodline as some of the carabaos raised in the province are born of poor quality due to inbreeding.
Earlier, Marañon said they are planning to purchase buffaloes from Australia for dairy, meat, and crossbreeding with local carabaos.
The governor did not mention how many he was eyeing for purchase, but stated the price of a bull is P76,000 while pregnant females cost around P110,000./WDJ