By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The provincial chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) called on village chiefs to adhere to current policies amid reports that barangay officials were leading cockfighting activities in their communities.
Cockfighting activities, or known locally as “bulang”, “pauwak”, or “tupada”, have been prohibited by the national and local governments to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The recent COVID outbreak in the province of Antique was attributed to cockfighting in the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista.
Cockfighting activities have also been reported in the city and province of Iloilo, though reports are still being verified by authorities.
In an interview with Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo, DILG Iloilo Provincial Director Teodora Sumagaysay said that as of April 13, the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) headed by Colonel Gilbert Gorero has yet to send reports of cockfighting activities in the province.
As to rumors of cockfighting activities being held in barangays, Sumagaysay cited Presidential Decree No. 449 (Cockfighting Law of 1974) which prohibits the holding of cockfighting activities in unlicensed cockpits.
Section 5(d) of the law provides that “cockfighting shall be allowed only in licensed cockpits during Sundays and legal holidays and during local fiestas for not more than three days”.
Section 6 of the same law gives local government units (LGUs) the power to grant licenses to cockpits in locations based on their respective zoning ordinances.
Sumagaysay said their action will depend on the type of report from the IPPO.
If the report submitted is an investigative report, it will be forwarded to the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (RIATF) for the appropriate filing of administrative charges, because it is a violation of protocol.
The DILG-Region 6 chairs the RIATF.
If the IPPO will be submitting a narrative report without investigation, DILG-Iloilo will request them to investigate to check the veracity of the report “if the barangay officials really did have lapses and they are remiss of their responsibility”.
Like the investigative report, the results will be forwarded to the RIATF, who may file corresponding administrative charges against barangay officials involved.
“They are preparing the report as told to me by PD Gorero, so we will check on that. Same as what we tell the municipalities, we send them a memo, asking them to justify, and checking whether or not their justification is acceptable. If not, we will forward that to the RIATF for the filing of the appropriate administrative charges,” said Sumagaysay in a radio interview.
Sumagaysay called on barangay officials who are allegedly involved in local cockfighting activities to “instead promote observance of minimum public health standards”, reiterating the P.D. No. 449, Executive Orders by LGU officials, and relevant guidelines issued by national government agencies.
“Barangay officials are the first ones to see these things because it is happening in their own locality. My call to the punong barangays, barangay kagawads, and other barangay officials is that we just have to follow the law. Instead of leading bulang in their barangays, they should help in advocating observance of minimum health protocols,” she said.
