Reopening of cockpit arenas lobbied

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Gamefowl Commission has recommended to Mayor Edgardo Labella to reopen legal cockpit arenas.

The rampant holding of “tigbakay” or illegal cockfighting in villages has prompted the commission to lobby for the resumption of cockfighting activities.

Councilor Raymond Garcia, the chairperson of the gamefowl commission, said tigbakay and other illegal forms of cockfighting are unregulated and crowd drawers.

“Among gitan-aw ang reason nganong nanaghan ang tigbakay is also because wala’y legal venue for them nga mag-cockfighting sila,” he said.

To limit the number of people and to ensure the strict compliance of health protocols inside cockpit arenas, the commission suggested to scrap live audience inside the venues.

Only the two fighting parties (handlers sand assistants) and the cockpit staff will be allowed inside the arena.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has approved cockfighting in places under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

But Labella earlier decided on keeping them closed amid the health crisis, saying cockfights can draw huge crowds with no regard to health protocols and social distancing.

“Sa part sa atong mayor dili siya ganahan i-open because our cases are relatively higher. So nag-recommend ta nga let’s us 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.

The commission, Garcia said, already sent the details of the proposal to the mayor for review and approval. — KQD (FREEMAN)