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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The local chief executive here vetoed Tuesday an ordinance that would have renewed the franchise of cockfighting operations in the city.
In a statement, Mayor Oscar Moreno said the veto was primarily due to the coronavirus diseases 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic concerns.
Moreno argued that cockfighting involves the participation of large crowds, making health protocol violations unavoidable.
"The veto, however, is predicated principally on my desire to prevent the undue exposure of our residents and visitors alike from the coronavirus and its variants. I cannot afford to allow our people to be exposed unnecessarily to the virus (responsible for Covid-19)," the mayor said.
The vetoed measure, City Ordinance 14212-2021, sought to grant a franchise for the Canitoan-Pagatpat Cockers Association to operate cockfighting events in the next three years.
The association is represented by its president, Isagani Legaspi, and maintains a cockpit arena located at Zone 2 Lunas, Barangay Pagatpat.
Moreno said he wrote a letter to Vice Mayor Rainier Joaquin Uy and the members of the City Council on January 4, 2022, expressing his reason for vetoing the ordinance.
"It cannot be denied that cockpits are crowded areas and many of our cockfighting aficionados are senior citizens. Shouting is normal in cockfights," he said.
He added: "It is now very clear that if I had not vetoed the ordinance that time, the number of actual cases would have immensely risen in the coming weeks. In fact, if I recall correctly, cockfighting was prohibited by the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force." (PNA)
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