Cockpit organizers in Cebu City are told to police their arenas as the police could not afford to deploy individual personnel there. | File photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cockpit organizers in Cebu City are asked to police their own arenas as the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) could not assign individual police to do so.
Police Lieutenant Janette Rafter, chief of operations of CCPO, said this after Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed the guidelines for the resumption of cockpit operations on Thursday, March 24, 2022.
LOOK: Guidelines on resumption of cockpit operations
Rafter, for her part, said the CCPO could not provide individual police to the arenas due to manpower concerns. She instead advised cockfight organizers to secure their facilities which she claimed are quite numerous.
She, however, could not provide the exact number of cockfighting arenas in the city saying they have yet to coordinate with the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) to get the actual figure.
“We can maybe call the organizers or the owner of these cockpits to police their own because pila ka cockpits diri sa Cebu City and then they will open simultaneously mahurot ang atoang police to secure them and it is not also a good thing to put them[there],” Rafter said.
Rafter, however, assured that cockpit arenas will be included in their monitoring, to also ensure these facilities follow the guidelines set by the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
READ: Here are the things you need to know on the resumption of cockpit operations in Cebu City
Recently, Councilor Joel Garganera, EOC deputy chief implementor, said that the operators can open the arenas whenever they are ready and as long as they have completed all necessary safety measures for both infrastructure and personnel.
The city government’s EOC on Tuesday, March 22, indicated that the city is ready to reopen cockpits, especially since Cebu City is now under Alert Level 1. /rcg
READ: Cebu City to reopen cockpits soon