Online cockfighting needs IATF approval: Palace

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this statement following reports that online cockfighting is being held in private farms amid the prevailing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. (Photo: Dindo Mojica/ Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA – Online “sabong” (cockfighting) will need approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) before being allowed, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this statement following reports that online cockfighting is being held in private farms amid the prevailing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

“Kinakailangang ipagbigay-alam po iyan sa IATF (They should inform the IATF),” Roque said in a virtual Palace briefing.

The IATF has yet to release guidelines on cockfighting done online.

Roque said cockfighting remains banned in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ.

He, however, disclosed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government has made a proposal to allow cockfighting in areas placed under the least restrictive MGCQ as long as guests would not be permitted.

“Ang naalala ko po sa IATF, diniskas na po ang sabong, hindi pa po pinapayagan. Ang naging posisyon po ng DILG, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, at base rin po sa minutes ay sabi nila kung walang audience at MGCQ, baka pupuwede. Pero kinakailangan muna pong aprubahan ng IATF (I remember the IATF, we discussed cockfighting is still not allowed. The position of the DILG, if I’m not mistaken based on the minutes, is that as long as there is no audience and it’s MGCQ, it may be allowed. But it needs to secure approval from the IATF),” he said.

A report from Inquirer showed that a number of cockfighting events are being streamed online.

The host of the live stream reportedly earns by selling the streaming rights to websites where people can place their bets.

The fee to gain rights to stream the video usually costs from PHP12,500 to PHP15,000.

These online cockfighting streams are also being sold to various casinos abroad particularly in Macau and in Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Thailand.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said cockfighting could be a violation of local ordinances prohibiting mass gatherings amid the quarantine period.

It is also a violation of the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act or Republic Act No. 11332, he added.

Cockfighting is a sport of pitting gamecocks to fight. In 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 449 or the Cockfighting Law of 1974 which provides regulatory policies on cockfighting in the country.