POPULAR PASTIME Cockfighting, a legal form of gambling, remains a popular pastime, especially in the provinces where cockpit arenas have become community fixtures. —INQUIRER PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Cockfighting activities are now allowed to resume in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), Malacañang said Friday.
But presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases authorized local government units to have the final decision if licensed cockpits can resume operations in their respective jurisdictions.
“Kinakailangan po merong pagpayag ng lokal na pamahalaan na siya rin pong nagsu-supervise nitong mga sabong na ito,” Roque said in a televised briefing.
(There has to be the approval of the local government which will also be supervising the cockfighting activities.)
Apart from cockfighting activities, Roque said the IATF has also allowed off-track horse race betting stations to resume operations in both GCQ and MGCQ areas.
The resumption of operations of both horse race betting stations and license cockpits is subject to guidelines that will be issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Roque said.