JILICC Cockpit Rules: The Decree, the Licence, the Calendar

Online sabong (e-sabong) is suspended nationwide under Executive Order No. 9, signed by President Marcos on 28 December 2022.

A licensed cockpit is the one place where the decree still allows cockfighting. Presidential Decree No. 449, the Cockfighting Law of 1974, governs how those arenas are owned, licensed and opened. This page walks through the decree’s own text, point by point, so you know what a cockpit is before you read anything else about sabong.

What a licensed cockpit is under PD 449

Section 2 of the decree says it governs “the establishment, operation, maintenance and ownership of cockpits”. Section 5(d) sets the core rule: cockfighting is allowed only in licensed cockpits, on the days the decree lists. The decree’s opening recitals call cockfighting a traditional form of recreation and say it should not be a tool of uncontrolled gambling.

Who licenses a cockpit

Section 6 authorizes city and municipal mayors to issue the licence for operating and maintaining a cockpit, subject to the approval of the Chief of Constabulary or his authorized representative. The same section lets local ordinances collect taxes and fees.

The preamble of Executive Order No. 9 adds that the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) lets local governments authorize and license cockpits and regulate cockfighting.

1. The city or municipality grants the licence by ordinance and mayoral permit.
2. The decree’s text makes the Chief of Constabulary’s approval part of that step.
3. The building permit comes from the city or provincial engineer.
4. Operators who broke the siting rule in 1974 got three years from the decree’s effectivity to comply.

How many cockpits a city or municipality may hold

Section 5(b) is short: “Only one cockpit shall be allowed in each city or municipality, except that in cities or municipalities with a population of over one hundred thousand, two cockpits may be established, maintained and operated.” That gives a simple test you can run on any town. The decree’s own figures work out like this:

A municipality of 60,000 people may hold one licensed cockpit; a city of 150,000 may hold two, never three. Check the local ordinance for how your own city applies it.

Which days cockfights may be held

Section 5(d) names the calendar. Cockfighting is allowed in licensed cockpits during Sundays and legal holidays, and during local fiestas for not more than three days. A provincial, city or municipal fair, carnival or exposition may hold it for three days on a local resolution, with approval, and not more than two such occasions a year in the same place.

The same section lists days when no cockfight may be held:

1. 30 December (Rizal Day)
2. 12 June (Philippine Independence Day)
3. 30 November (National Heroes Day)
4. Holy Thursday and Good Friday
5. Election or referendum day, and registration days for them

Section 5(e) adds a one-time, three-day allowance in a year for foreign dignitaries, tourists, returning Filipinos or charity fund-raising, on approval.

Who works a licensed cockpit

The decree defines three officials in Section 4 and requires each to hold a licence under Section 7, renewable every year in the birth month. The licence fee a city or municipality may charge is not more than twenty pesos.

The ringside vocabulary that grows from these roles is laid out in how a sabong bet is called and settled.

Penalties in Section 8

Section 8 punishes breaches of the decree. An owner, financier, manager or operator, or a gaffer, referee or bet taker, faces prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of two thousand pesos. Any other offender faces prision correccional or a fine of not less than six hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos, or both. Section 5(f) also bans gambling of any other kind on the premises during cockfights.

Executive Order No. 9 also recites Presidential Decree No. 1602, which sets stiffer penalties for illegal or unauthorized cockfighting; read that decree for its figures.

Why betting on sabong online is a different matter

The decree speaks of arenas, licensed officials and people present at a cockfight. E-sabong was a separate layer: live-streamed fights and remote betting, under a regulatory framework issued by PAGCOR. Executive Order No. 9 recites that a nationwide suspension was implemented on 3 May 2022 and then continues it for all e-sabong operations.

Section 1 of the order names two suspended activities:

1. Live-streaming or broadcasting live cockfights outside cockpits or cockfighting arenas.
2. Online, remote or off-cockpit betting on live cockfights, wherever the betting platform sits, including a platform inside the cockpit.

The order says traditional cockfights authorized or licensed under existing laws are not covered. Read the full legal chain in the sabong law table, and the background in the missing sabungeros hearings that preceded the halt. If a casino lobby lists a lane under this name, what the DS88 Sabong label means sets out where the law stands.

Where the other pages in this cluster fit

To check a casino’s licence claim against the regulator’s own list, see how PAGCOR’s gaming site lists are read. The page on responsible play limits and support is there for anyone who wants limits and help, and the JILICC games lobby classes cover the casino side of the brand.