SP grants franchise to Lapuz cockpit

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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The cockpit in Barangay Don Esteban, Lapuz district had been granted a franchise by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).

Eight councilors voted in favor of Councilor Mandrie Malabor’s sponsored ordinance granting a franchise to Rockwell Lumber Cockpit Arena.

Only two councilors voted against the granting of franchise on Tuesday, and only one abstained from the voting.

Those who voted in favor of the franchise were councilors Eduardo Peñaredondo, Ely Estante, Joshua Alim, R Leone Gerochi, Liezel Joy Zulueta-Salazar, Lady Julie Grace Baronda, Liga ng mga Barangay president Reyland Hervias, and Malabor.

Councilors Armand Parcon and Jeffrey Ganzon opposed the granting of franchise.

Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas abstained while Councilor Jay Treñas, who presided the session, did not participate in the voting.

Malabor is the chairman of the committee on games, amusement and professional sports. He conducted public hearings on the matter.

Just this April, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog ordered the cockpit closed. It was found to be holding cockfights every Sunday even without a franchise.

Rockwell Lumber Cockpit Arena applied for a franchise way back in 2015 but the city council turned it down.

Malabor cited Presidential Decree No. 440 or the Cockfighting Law as amended by Presidential Decree 1310 providing that only one cockpit shall be allowed in each city or municipality; provided however, that in cities and municipalities with a population of more than 100,000, two cockpits may be established, maintained and operated in the poblacion and one each city or town district.

“As of May 1, 2010, the city had a population of 424,619. It had 180 barangays and divided into seven administrative districts,” he added.

Malabor also cited City Legal Officer Lorna Laurea’s opinion that “the SP is, under Section 458 (3) of the Local Government Code, duly empowered or authorized to grant another franchise should it find the need to do so, not only in the district of Lapuz but also in other districts of the city, considering that the population of the city is more than 500 thousand.”/PN
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