Reopen legal cockpit arenas, Cebu City Gamefowl Commission suggests

If the Cebu City Gamefowl Commission will have its way, legal cockpit arenas in the city will have to reopen sans the audience and noisy bettors. 

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Gamefowl Commission will be suggesting to Mayor Edgardo Labella to reopen legal cockpit arenas in the city with some conditions such as no audience should be allowed inside the venues.

Councilor Raymond Garcia, the chairperson of the gamefowl commission, said that there has been reports of illegal cockfighting or tigbakay in the barangays.

This has caused trouble for the police since these illegal forms of cockfighting are unregulated and can draw crowds with no regard to health protocols and social distancing.

“When you say tigbakay, illegal man na nga cockfighting. It will only become legal if dunay permits like fiesta. Among gitan-aw, ang reason nganong nanaghan ang tibakay is also because walay legal venue for them nga magcockfighting sila,” said Garcia.

The Interagency Task Force (IATF) has already allowed the reopening of legal cockfighting arenas in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).

However, Mayor Edgardo Labella has insisted on keeping them closed because he said cockfights are natural crowd drawers and he does not want to risk the health of the public amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Sa part ni Mayor Labella, di siya ganahan i-open because our cases are relatively higher. So nagrecommend mi nga let’s revisit this, atong iabli atong legal cockfighting arenas, there are four of them in Cebu City, we will just make it nga dili nato iallow ang audience,” said Garcia.

Without the audience, there will be no shouting or unruly behaviors that might become a medium to spread the virus.

Only the two fighting parties and the cockpit staff will be allowed inside the arena to limit the number of people inside.

It is not clear how the fight may be seen by the audience considering that the nature of cockpit arenas rely on the bets of its audience.

Still, Garia said the commission has now sent a more detailed proposal to the mayor and the mayor will be the one to decide on the approval of such especially with regards to the health protocols during cockpit operations.

For now, the councilor urges the public to wait for the arenas to reopen and avoid illegal cockfights. /rcg