Online cockfighting appears to be on the fast track to legalization and regulation in the Philippines, but it was bound to have some push back. Although legislators are making the first steps to making the activity safer and easier to tax, the Catholic Church has now come out against the activity, while local authorities continue to make arrests.
The Bishop of Balanga, Ruperto Santos, has come out against online cockfighting, locally known as e-sabong. “What we need in this time COVID-19 is spiritual recovery, moral ascendancy, not promotion of vices and proliferation of any form of gambling,” he said in a November 24 interview. “This online sabong will never be blessing to our country, as it will only be source of problems in the community and division in the family.”
If it was up to him, legislators would “enact laws which will serve our people and save our country, not because of money nor to satisfy one’s addiction.”
Bishop Santos opposed to construction of a cockpit in his own Bataan province, just across the bay from Manila. “It is such a disgrace and very disappointing to know that in this critical time of the coronavirus pandemic, there are people who are planning to construct a cockpit in Barangay Imelda in Samal,” he said in October. “Will that cockpit help our people, especially in the middle of a pandemic when people are even struggling to put food on their tables? Absolutely not.”
“A cockpit is a venue for propagating a vice, not a service to the community,” Santos continued. “That cockpit will never build up our people, but will only break up our community. It will never be a source of blessing to our town. On the contrary, it will lead us to poverty and much suffering.”
Although Santos considers cockfighting to be a “social malady,” the Catholic church doesn’t hold the same sway it once did in Philippines politics. Although the vast majority of Filipinos are catholic, President Rodrigo Duterte has maintained high popularity despite going against the church with his war on drugs, and repeated slights against the priesthood, like calling them “sons of bitches.”
And when there’s money to be made, the church’s opinion may not matter much at all. The Philippines Senate Committee on Ways and Means has put forward a bill that would create supervision for online cockfighting and allow the government to impose a 5% tax on gross revenue.
What the government understands and Santos doesn’t is that cockfighting will happen regardless of what anyone wishes, so you might as well make it safe and make money off of it. But that doesn’t mean authorities won’t crack down on it in the meantime.
Toril police arrested 10 people for cockfighting in Davao. The group were allegedly caught in the act, and police confiscated two gamecocks, P220 ($4.57) worth of bets, gaffing blades, and electrical tape. One suspect also allegedly had marijuana in his pocket, an illegal drug in the Philippines.
