Illegal cockfighting persists despite ordinance

ILOILO City – Unauthorized cockfighting persists in this metropolis despite an ordinance regulating such derbies.

The Iloilo City Council passed on Wednesday a resolution inviting the operator of a cockpit in Mandurriao district f or cockfights t hat did not reportedly have permits.

City Ordinance 2023-050 mandates to effectively regulate and control cockfighting in the city. It aims to establish a “coherent, systematic, and sound policy to preserve cockfighting as part of a longcherished tradition or custom, and not as a vice and to raise additional revenues to augment city income, curb illegal cockfighting in the barangay.”

The city ordinance supplements Presidential Decree ( PD) 449, or the Cockfighting Law of 1974.

Under the ordinance, the city mayor may issue special permits for special cockfights upon previous application and upon resolution of the City Council for the following purposes:

* For the support of national and local fund-raising campaigns for charitable purposes as may be authorized by the mayor;

* For barangay or district fiestas, the operators and/ or promoters of cockfights/ derbies of a licensed cockpit shall submit their letter of application for a special permit indicating the event to be held for a period not exceeding three days addressed to the city mayor to conduct the cockfighting event and upon approval of Resolution of No Objection (RONO) of the SP, they shall comply necessary permit prior conduct of such event; and

* The application for a special permit to the barangay or district fiestas shall be applied two weeks before the scheduled cockfight/derbies.

It further stipulates that all cockpits will register with the Office of the City Mayor and will not be allowed to operate without the required permit to be secured annually, not later than January 20th of the incoming year.

The ordinance also requires the cockfighting officials to register with the Office of the City Mayor. These include the promoter, pit manager, referees (sentenciador), bet managers (kasador), bet takers (kristo), and gaffers (mananari).

They will also have to pay a registration annually: P220 for the promoter; P165 for pit manners; P110 for the referee; P110 for the bet manager;

P82.50 for the bat taker; and P82.50 for the gaffer.

Cockfighting officials who will officiate or function as such without the permit will face penalties not less than P500 but not more than P2,000 or suffer imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than three months, or both at the discretion of the court.

The city mayor may also revoke or cause the revocation of such permit together with the corresponding license issued by the Business Permits and Licensing Office even before its expiration when the public interest so demands.

Moreover, specific fees will also be imposed upon the issuance of permits. These include an application filing fee of P110; for cockpit registration ( annually), P1,100; for the promoter of local derby or special cockfights, P1,100 per day.

“We were deprived of amusement taxes. We received the video of the alleged illegal cockfight,” said Councilor Romel Duron, the council’s games, amusement, and professional sports committee chairperson.

He was referring to the cockfighting done on Feb. 1216, 2024 which was not issued with a resolution of no objection (RONO) by the City Council.