JILICC Tari Explained: The Blade Behind a Sabong Fight

The tari belongs to the licensed cockpit, not to a screen: online sabong (e-sabong) is suspended nationwide under Executive Order No. 9, signed by President Marcos on 28 December 2022.

Licensed cockpits keep operating under Presidential Decree No. 449, and the tari sits inside that licensed world. It is the blade tied to a fighting cock’s leg, and the decree treats the person who fits it as a licensed official. For the arena rules around it, start with the cockpit rules in PD 449.

What the tari is

In Philippine cockfighting, a tari is a gaff or knife attached to the leg of the bird, in the place where the natural spur has been partly removed. Sabong uses these blades rather than the bare heel. The Wikipedia article on cockfighting shows a single-edged tari from 1879, so the tool is an old part of the sport.

The decree never defines the blade itself. It defines the job around it: in Section 4(d), the gaffer (Taga Tari) is “a person knowledgeable in the art of arming fighting cocks with gaff or gaffs on either or both legs.”

Who fits the tari: the Taga Tari

The decree names the gaffer as one of three licensed officials, with the referee (Sentenciador) and the bet taker or promoter. Section 7 says none of them may act in an authorized cockfight without first securing a licence, renewable every year in the birth month, from the city or municipality where the fight is held. A city or municipality may charge a tax of not more than twenty pesos.

The referee then oversees the gaffing. Section 4(e) says he “watches and oversees the proper gaffing of fighting cocks” and decides whether a cock can continue. The people in each role are:

1. The Taga Tari fits the blade.
2. The referee checks the gaffing and the condition of the cocks.
3. The bet taker calls the wagers; see the sabong bet terms at ringside.

Single-edged and double-edged tari

The Wikipedia article on cockfighting says two kinds of blade are in use, single-edged and double-edged, and that lengths vary. It says single-edged blades are used in derbies. Blades go on the left leg of the bird, and by agreement between the owners they can go on the right leg or on both.

Because the owners agree the details, the table gives the pattern, not a fixed rule. The decree sets no blade length of its own. If you attend a licensed cockpit, ask the officials there what the rules of that day’s fight are.

What the law says about the tari today

A blade is only lawful inside a licensed cockpit on the days Section 5(d) allows. Section 8 punishes any gaffer who breaks the decree with prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of two thousand pesos.

Online betting on those fights is a separate matter, covered in the what the e-sabong law says.