ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas ordered the suspension – effective upon receipt – of Rockwell Cockpit Arena in Barangay Don Esteban, Lapuz district.
A team of city government lawyers – one from the City Legal Office and two from the City Mayor’s Office – recommended the suspension.
“Ginatan-aw man nila nga waay gid nabaton sang Rockwell ang aton notice (temporarily halting cockpit operations) sa ila on time and they feel it as their first offense, amo na nga amo lang na anay ila ma-recommend,” said Treñas.
A show-cause order was issued against Rockwell Cockpit Arena after it was discovered that an online cockfighting was held there even after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) prohibited such due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country.
“Aside from (our) notice, I think everyone should understand that we all follow the resolution issued by the IATF. Even if they did not receive the notice from the city through the PSTMO (Public Safety and Transportation Management Office), ang aton nga legal team still believes they should be meted out some disciplinary action,” Treñas said.
The city mayor warned the cockpit management that another offense would result to the permanent cancellation of its permits.
Meanwhile, Councilor Romel Duron, chairman of the city council’s committee on rules, ordinances, resolution, style, justice and legal affairs, deemed it redundant anymore for the city council to pursue its own investigation on the cockpit since the city mayor already investigated and acted on the matter.
“Nakasabat naman ang management sang Rockwell. Based sa sabat ‘ya, nag-decision ang mayor nga i-suspend ‘ya. May findings naman nga may gin-violate sia that’s why gin-penalize sia for suspension,” Duron said.
However, the councilor believed the city council has to amend the franchise given to Rockwell and suggested introducing specific penalties for franchise violations.
“Dapat nabutang sa mga kondisyon nga dapat ‘pag may amo gali na gakatabo, ano ang mga penalty nga dapat ihatag. Kon ara na ‘da daan, kundi klaro na, all we have to do is implement,” Duron said.
Committee on games and amusement chairman Councilor Carlos “Jojo” Javellana, on the other hand, said he is yet to see the copy of the suspension order against the cockpit./PN
