The mayors will have to decide for themselves whether they would allow cockfighting events to resume in their respective localities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor Arthur Yap issued Executive Order No. 51 last week which entrusted to the city and municipal mayors the decision of allowing licensed cockpits to reopen and hold cockfighting activities.

The governor’s directive however states that the reopening of cockfighting-related events must be consistent with rules and pertinent issuances of the National Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Since Bohol has been placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), cockfighting aficionados and cockpit owners have been appealing to the provincial government for the resumption of cockfights.

A group of cockfighting aficionados have even resorted to holding remote betting through cockfights that are being telecast live.

Cockpit operators and those engaged in the feeds industry have purportedly lost billions due to the prohibition of cockfights during the past seven months that community quarantine measures have been imposed. (KB)