COCKFIGHTING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Cockfighting is very popular in the Philippines. Crowds that fill an auditorium the size of a high-school gymnasium show up for big events. In a sport that has changed little over the centuries, roosters with razor sharp spurs attached their ankles fight brief but bloody battles. Fences sometimes surround the arenas to protect the spectators who may bet a week's salary on a single fight, using hand signals and gestures.
Wallace Stegner, an American writer, wrote: “You don’t know Filipinos until you have seen some little fellow who has trained a chicken for months put it into the ring against another’s rooster. He bets everything he owns on it, steals his wife’s savings, sells his children’s shirts to raise a peso. If he wins, glorious; if in one pass his rooster gets its throat cut, then you will see how a philosopher takes disaster.”
According to philippines.hvu.nl: “”Mga sunoy", as the people in de Visayas call cocks, can be found in all parts of the world. In many tropical countries, they are very popular in the life of families in the countryside. Many families have some of them on their compound. This is not specific in the Philippines, but common for many countries in Asia and Latin America. Cock fighting ("sabong" in the Cebuano language) is in the Philippines popular as a way of gambling, but it is also seen as a national sport. In 1887, cockfighting was described as a popular activity, even more widespread than opium-smoking among Chinese! [Source: philippines.hvu.nl][Source: philippines.hvu.nl]
History of Cockfighting in the Philippines
Cockfighting existed in the Philippines before Spanish colonization. During Magellan's voyage of discovery of the Philippines in 1521 cockfighting was first witnessed and documented by Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's chronicler, in the kingdom of Taytay. Aurora Almendral of NBC News wrote: “Cockfighting has been around for hundreds of years. When Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521, it was already a roaring spectacle. As such, the culture around it is deeply entrenched in Philippine life, particularly in the provinces, where cockfighting is part of the daily scrabble for income. [Source: Aurora Almendral, NBC News, August 26, 2013]
Cockfighting became a formal social institution during the Spanish period with the growth of towns and the establishment of fiestas. In rural areas, it is still common to see men caring for and training their fighting roosters, reflecting the activity’s deep cultural presence. Anecdotes highlight its importance, such as poet Manuel Bernabe, who reportedly saved his roosters instead of his possessions during a fire. [Source: “Culture Shock!: Philippines” by Alfredo Roces and Grace Roces, Marshall Cavendish International, 2010]
In his famous 1887 novel, "Noli me Tangere", the Philippine national hero, José Rizal wrote: “The place where the fights happen is called the "cockpit". The people who can afford to have some Mga sunoy, will make a lot of efforts to train the cocks in agressivity. If a cock wins, the owner earns money, just as the persons who visit the fights and put their money on the winning cock. During the fight the fighting cocks wear sharp razor blades fixed on their legs. The duel will only ends by the death or (bloody) flight of one of the cocks'. [Source: "Noli me Tangere", by José Rizal, 1887]
Cockfighting
Cockfighting is a very old sport and very popular in various places around the world. Described by some as an "art form" not a sport, it common in rural areas, where many people consider it wholesome, family entertainment. The cock itself is often viewed as a symbol of courage, tenacity, assuredness and masculinity. Prized cocks can sell for thousands of dollars. They are valued for breeding as well as fighting.
Cockfighting predates Christ by at least 500 years. Believed to have originated in China or India, it was practiced by the ancient Greeks, Persians and Romans, who identified it with Eros, the God of Love and passed it on to medieval Europe. The sport reached the pinnacle of its popularity in France and England in the 16th, 17th and 18th century and was finally was banned in England along with other blood sports in 1849, but not before it gave us words like cocky, cocksure, cockpit and cocktail. European colonizers introduced the sport to the Caribbean, Latin America, the Philippines and Indonesia where it is still very popular today.
In a defense of cockfighting at an Oklahoma court before Americans demanding a federal cockfighting ban , Abraham Lincoln said: "As long as the Almighty permitted intelligent men, created in his image and likeness, to fight in public and kill each other while the world looks on approvingly, it's not for me to deprive the chickens of the same privilege." Louisiana is the last legal bastion of American cockfighting. In the United States, cockfighting is now illegal in all 50 states. The last state to ban it—Louisiana—did so in 2007.
Cockfights
Cockfights are usually held in pits about the size of a rubber backyard swimming pool. The rules vary somewhat. In some places fighting continues until one bird dies, retreats or can no longer carry on. In other places, there are rounds like boxing. If a cock's chest is pierced, sometimes the referee will allow a time out so the bird’s owner can rub the cock’s breast with water and blow gently into its mouth.
Most large towns in the Philippines have a cockpit, a circular arena with a central fighting pit and surrounding bleachers. These structures are typically roofed but open-sided for ventilation. Entry may require a fee, although bringing a rooster can serve as admission. Cockpits function as community gathering places where matches are organized and observed. [Source: “Culture Shock!: Philippines” by Alfredo Roces and Grace Roces, Marshall Cavendish International, 2010]
The cocks are generally outfit with 1½-inch-long, stainless steel spurs. When they are released in the cockfighting pit their neck feathers stiffen and they go after one another like hopping, twirling tornadoes. Fighting cocks wildly flap their wings, clinch one another, exchange jabs by spreading their wings, and punch with their spurs. Eyes are often gouged out chunks of meat are ripped out. One bird usually loses after its heart or head is punctured with blows from the victor’s spurs, and it dies, or its leg or wing is broken and can longer fight. Good fighters display their fighting spirit when they are young: attacking other birds and even their parents when they are 40 days old.
Roosters are trained for months before being matched by their handlers. Once paired, sharp spurs are attached and the birds are placed in the arena. Betting begins immediately, with wagers often identified through simple markers, such as whether a handler wears a hat. Prominent participants usually sit near the ringside. Matches are typically brief, often ending within minutes. Afterward, handlers or “doctors” may attempt to treat injured birds, although losing roosters are usually taken home and cooked in a dish known as talunan, meaning “loser’s meal.”
Cockfighting’s Popularity , Animal Rights and the Philippines Economy
More than 5 million roosters clash in Philippines cockpits each Manny Berbano, publisher of the Pit Games magazine and head of the Philippines’s National Gamefowl Training Center, told the Los Angeles Times. A Philippine cockfight, wrote journalist Alan Berlow, "is a bacchanalian frenzy, a chaotic yet controlled drama of sacrificial cruelty with an elaborate pecking order and a near-religious mystique, a club where men and birds perform a macho ritual in which they form a brotherhood for their passion for unrestrained cruelty."
Paul Watson wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “As cockpits across the U.S. closed, or went underground, American breeders continued to produce pedigreed game fowl, maintaining bloodlines that date to 19th century England and Ireland. Some made millions of dollars exporting fighting cocks to countries such as the Philippines and Mexico, where the sport is still legal and enormously popular. Berbano proudly paid an Alabama breeder $5,000 for a cock from a long line of champions, a thoroughbred sweater yellow legged hatch. But a new law is expected to cut off multimillion-dollar exports of American game fowl. [Source: Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2007 ^/^]
“Cockfighting is so central to Philippine culture that Rolando Blanco, vice president of the country's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has little hope of persuading the government to stop it. "How can we fight cockfighting when our lawmakers are cock fighters and breeders?" he asked. Supporters of a ban acknowledge that fighting cocks' killer instinct is encoded in their genes, but argue that nature is more forgiving than cockfight organizers, who arm the roosters with razors and make sure they can't escape the ring. Chickens don't win much sympathy in the Philippines. "Our laws protecting animals mainly concern endangered species and bigger animals, like dogs, cats, horses, whale sharks and monkey-eating eagles," Blanco said. ^/^
“The Philippine economy benefits by more than $1 billion a year from cockfight betting, breeding farms and the business of selling feed and drugs, including steroids, that bulk up the birds for two years before their fighting instinct kicks in, Berbano estimated. A barrel-shaped former Coca-Cola executive, Berbano is Philippine cockfighting's less garish answer to Don King. He is a cockpit evangelist with a PowerPoint pitch. ^/^
“With six national TV shows devoted to the sport, Filipinos can enjoy the carnage from the comfort of their homes almost every night of the week. In the stands at the coliseum, bet-takers — called kristos after the Tagalog word for Christ — probably handled more than $400,000 in wagers in a single night during the Slasher Cup II, he said. ^/^
Cockfights in Cebu
Cockfighting is particularly popular in Cebu and the Visayas. Describing a cockfight in a rickety makeshift arena on the island of Siquijor off southern Negros, Daisann McLane wrote in the New York Times, “Bettors jumped, whooped and waved, while making intricate hand signals to the kristso, the bet takers who, famously, keep all the bets in their memory, not on paper. (I sat on my thumbs, worried that I’d scratch my head and lose my shirt)...The body language and drama of the spectators were mesmerizing, and the action moved lightning fast. When the defeated bird went down in a flurry of feathers, a hailstorm of crumpled-up peso notes descended on the ring
Reporting from Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines, Aurora Almendral of NBC News wrote: “On a recent Sunday in the provincial city of Cabuyao, in the middle of an old arena painted turquoise and surrounded by ascending rows of wooden benches rubbed smooth from years of use, are two men, each cradling a rooster. A buzzer sounds, and the roosters are released. They head straight for each other. There’s a tousle of red wings and feathers, and suddenly, one of the roosters starts to hobble. The white one veers away and stumbles to the ground. The referee picks up both roosters by the scruffs of their necks to see if there’s still any fight left in them. [Source: Aurora Almendral, NBC News, August 26, 2013 =]
“There is another flurry of feathers, and the white one — the one that looked dead on its feet seconds ago — deals a fatal kick to the red rooster. The fight is over after 24 seconds. Borick Alcazar owns the white rooster. Winning is always good, but winning as the underdog is doubly satisfying. Alcazar grins from ear to ear. He picks up his rooster, accepts a little adulation from the crowd, and walks out of the arena. =
“Cockfights in the Philippines are held year-round, though Sundays are the best day to go. Many towns and cities throughout the Philippines (including Manila) have cockpits. In Cabuyao, Laguna, there are cockfights at the Cabuyao Coliseum every day except for Monday. In general, fights start in the morning, about 9 a.m. and last to the early afternoon. The best way to find out when and where a cockfight is being held is to ask a local — tricycle drivers, street hawkers or security guards are likely to know.” =
Cockfight Surgeon
Aurora Almendral of NBC News wrote: “Outside, Alcazar lays his rooster onto the lap of a man with bloody hands sitting next to a box of needles and string. He’s the arena’s surgeon, and he rifles through the feathers searching for injuries. The rooster is docile, stunned with pain. There’s a small puncture wound at the thigh. He plucks off the surrounding feathers to reveal a hole and the bumpy yellowish skin around it. The surgeon pulls a long curved needle and black thread through the skin, closes it up, knots it off, and moves on to the three-inch long gash at the chicken’s thick breast. He cleans that off with cotton balls and tacks it shut with a crude cross stitch. [Source: Aurora Almendral, NBC News, August 26, 2013 =]
"This job is all based on reputation,” the chicken surgeon says as he calmly trims the loose ends of the suture. He practiced on his own chickens for a couple of years, before working his way up to charging for it. Steady hands, a strong stomach and a reliable stitch means he’s got enough clients now that he’s at the arena five days a week, sewing up six to ten chickens a day. The chicken surgeon charges 200 pesos — about $4.50 in U.S. currency — for each chicken he stitches up. There's no charge if the animal dies. A dead rooster gets sent five feet away to the butcher, who de-feathers it, guts it, and puts it in a plastic bag, ready to be stewed. =
“Alcazar’s rooster comes to, however, and he gently lays it in a box punctured with holes. It’s a winning cock now, and he’ll feed it a choice diet of hard boiled eggs and carrots, give it vitamin and antibiotic shots, and in three or five months, it’ll be ready for the ring again — a wiser fighter from having survived.” =
Cockfight Betting and Money in the Philippines
Bookmakers, known as the casadors, manages bets and balances wagers when one side receives more money. They track bets through rapid hand signals and memory. Other experienced cockers may be called upon to take additional bets to ensure the match proceeds. Reneging on wagers is strongly discouraged.
Aurora Almendral of NBC News wrote: “Back in the arena, it’s intermission and the spectators are throwing coins and bills into the ring. It’s a collection for a fellow sabongero (cockfighter) who’s sick at the hospital and needs his bills paid. Cockfights are also held for funerals, where a percentage of the money that changes hands is given to the family of the dead. Burial is so expensive in the Philippines that some people can only afford to rent a coffin for the duration of a wake. [Source: Aurora Almendral, NBC News, August 26, 2013 =]
“As a group picks up the coins up from the sand, another round of cockfighting starts heating up. The arena fills with the determined yelling of small-time bookies, called kristos. They flash complicated hand signals across the room, making bets large and small. Some of them work for bosses, others just for themselves, but all of them are doing it for the extra cash. Teody sits on the last row of the arena, his flip-flopped feet propped up on the wooden bench in front of him. He works as a driver, and doesn't have money to bet today after a rough week. He’s here for the fun, to chat with the guys, to have a few laughs. He's hoping a friend wins so hopefully he can have a beer and eat one of the losing roosters. =
“Asked about his biggest win, he sighs with nostalgia: “It was a long time ago. 12,000 pesos. “I bought a washing machine,” he recalled. “And I kept a little for beer.” Twelve thousand pesos, about $280, is a huge win for a guy like Teody. It’s more than what he makes in a month. And, he points out, it’s more than what a person makes in a month working in Saudi Arabia. In any given year, millions of Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia as drivers, nurses, mechanics, waiters — and, as the country ramps up to host the 2022 World Cup, construction workers. =
“A lot of the guys in the arena, Teody says, look at the life of a Filipino overseas worker in Saudi Arabia — the strict rules, the low pay, and the constant stream of news reporting horrific treatment — and decide they’re better off showing up at the cockpit. Alcazar, the lucky winner, doesn't hesitate when asked why he fights cocks: “Hanap buhay lang,” he said — I’m just making a living.” =
Billions Wagered Monthly in Online Cockfighting Gambling
Cockfighting in the Philippines grew into a billion-dollar industry after shifting online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through livestreamed matches known as “e-sabong,” betting became widely accessible, generating large revenues for operators and significant tax income for the government. Monthly taxes from licensed operators were estimated at around 640 million pesos, helping offset pandemic-related financial losses. [Source: Ryan General, Nextshark, March 18, 2022]
The online format led to massive betting activity. One major operator, Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc., reportedly handled about 60 billion pesos (around $1.16 billion) in monthly wagers from round-the-clock matches. The company collected a five percent fee from bettors, translating to roughly 3 billion pesos in monthly revenue.
Cockfighting, a long-standing practice in the Philippines, involves two roosters fighting to the death with sharp metal spurs attached. Although illegal in many countries, it has remained a popular pastime locally. After declining in previous decades, the sport saw renewed growth when online betting was introduced.
The industry also drew controversy following the disappearance of at least 34 individuals linked to cockfighting operations, including handlers. The incident prompted a legislative inquiry in the Philippine Senate and increased public scrutiny of the business and its regulation.
Lawmakers raised concerns about regulatory gaps and proposed suspending online cockfighting operations. Some senators argued for reopening physical arenas instead, while others questioned the balance between economic benefits and social costs. Despite these concerns, the government allowed operations to continue at the time, citing the importance of revenue.
Government regulators, including the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, warned that banning online cockfighting would significantly reduce state income. Critics, however, argued that the revenue collected was small compared to the industry’s total earnings and raised ethical concerns, pointing to animal cruelty and the risks associated with gambling.
World Slasher Cup II, the World's Biggest Cockfighting Event
Reporting from Quezon City, outside Manila, Paul Watson wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “In the center ring where Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier pummeled each other through 14 rounds of the "Thrilla in Manila" more than three decades ago, another world-championship blood fest was in full swing. The deftest moves and deepest cuts drew shouts of "Fight back!" and "Peck! Peck!" from spectators hanging on every move, illuminated larger than life on the electronic scoreboard's color video display. Most had fists full of cash wagered on the outcome. [Source: Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2007 ^/^]
“One after another, the fights raged deep into the night. Several were over in seconds. None lasted longer than 10 minutes. Most losers ended up dead on the ring's hard-packed dirt floor. Many winners were barely breathing as their handlers carried them off in the white glare of ceiling lights. To popular tunes such as the Beatles' "Let It Be," cleanup crews swept the ring and sprinkled it with a watering can for the next bout. ^/^
“Welcome to the World Slasher Cup II, where the really lethal roosters are separated from the mere chickens. Billed as the world's biggest cockfighting event, the derby's $55,500 purse and prestigious title drew numerous foreign entries last month, from Japan, Germany and several U.S. states, including Alabama, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania. For three nights, hundreds of game fowl competing on eight-cock teams with names such as God of War, Air Assault, Deep Impact and Your Future clashed in a series of bouts at the Araneta Coliseum. In flapping blurs of feathers, grit and blood, they pecked and gashed with 3-inch razors strapped to their legs.^/^
“It is big-ticket entertainment, a high-stakes slaughter that animal rights activists call barbaric. But in the raucous crowd of several thousand, cockers wondered what's wrong with fighting chickens when humans beating each other senseless in boxing rings are worthy of million-dollar purses and Olympic medals. Millionaire developer Jorge Araneta, the coliseum's owner and a stately dean of Philippine cockfighting, was ringside at the "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975 and had a team of cocks in this year's World Slasher Cup. To him, Ali and Frazier inflicted the cruelest cuts, not the fighting chickens, which only did what comes naturally. "This is a better proxy than human beings beating each other's brains out," Araneta said, after one of his birds dispatched its opponent in a few minutes. "I pleaded with Ali to give it up after that fight." ^/^
Cockfighting at World Slasher Cup II
Paul Watson wrote in the Los Angeles Times, ““Here in Araneta Coliseum, the arena that has held some of the Philippines' marquee events, including a Mass by Pope John Paul II, rich and poor roared and winced at the clattering flurry of attacks, and hushed as a winning rooster pondered its final move. In the wings, gaffers tied blades called tari to roosters' legs; the softer spurs they were born to attack with had been trimmed to rounded nubbins to make way for the steel blades tempered to killer strength with alloys such as titanium and cobalt. Each new competitor, also shorn of its red comb and wattle, was cradled like a fragile child in its handler's arms on the walk to the cockpit from a gloomy hallway. A large, wooden statue of a crucified Christ decorated with fragrant jasmine garlands stood watch at one end.[Source: Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2007 ^/^]
“Sparring roosters, known as heaters, pecked at the fighting cocks to get them riled up, as handlers restrained them by their tail plumes and bettors and kristos waved and hollered at each other like frantic floor traders during a stock market meltdown. In the final seconds before the starting buzzer, a male nurse dressed in white swabbed the hackles of each fighter to test for any dirty tricks, such as feathers laced with cyanide. Then the cocks' tari were unsheathed, and a cockpit technician wiped each blade with gauze soaked in rubbing alcohol.^/^
“Primed for blood, the roosters were released from either side of two center lines. Some crowed as the crowd bellowed. Others went straight for the kill, flapping above their opponents, wildly stabbing at anything they could strike with their blades. When the fighters lay panting in the dirt, the referee, or sentenciador, gently picked both up by the hackle feathers at arm's length, and gently brought them to head-to-head, waiting for one to make the regulation two pecks needed for an outright victory. In the few bouts in which neither rooster had the strength, or will, left for that, the sentenciador declared a draw. And the bettors moaned. ^/^
“At 4 a.m. on the final night, the 2007 World Slasher Cup was finally clinched, with a record of seven wins and a draw, by the eighth rooster entered by Wilson Ong, a Philippine businessman. His cock died soon after pecking the limp, bleeding final challenger twice. Handler Alfred Pangilinan, 36, cradled the dead winner in his arms for the long trip home to Guagua, a town 50 miles north of Manila. There, on the edge of the training farm, in a graveyard of champions, Pangilinan dug a deep hole and buried the bird.” ^/^
American Cocks and Cockfighters in the Philippines
Paul Watson wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “As cockpits across the U.S. closed, or went underground, American breeders continued to produce pedigreed game fowl, maintaining bloodlines that date to 19th century England and Ireland. Some made millions of dollars exporting fighting cocks to countries such as the Philippines and Mexico, where the sport is still legal and enormously popular. Berbano proudly paid an Alabama breeder $5,000 for a cock from a long line of champions, a thoroughbred sweater yellow legged hatch. But a new law is expected to cut off multimillion-dollar exports of American game fowl. [Source: Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2007 ^/^]
In May 2007, “President Bush signed legislation that makes it a felony to transport across state lines, or to export, dogs and chickens used in fights. The penalty is up to three years in jail and a fine of as much as $250,000. The Humane Society of the United States says that will help prevent American breeders from exporting fighting animals and "puts increased pressure on the airlines to stop shipping roosters to cockfighting hot spots."^/^
“Johnnie Phillips was one of at least 17 Americans with roosters in the competition for this year's Slasher Cup. Bald, and with powerful, tattooed forearms, the retired AT&T worker learned to love cockfighting from his father while growing up on a farm in Alabama. Phillips, 61, says he doesn't get why governments would ban fighting cocks from doing what comes naturally, when they aren't much good for anything else — especially eating. "They get 3 months old and they're like chewing leather," he said. ^/^
“As animal rights activists won more state bans on cockfighting, staying ahead of the law became part of the sport for die-hard fans like Phillips. He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge with about 65 other people when more than a dozen police raided an Ohio cockpit in 1972. "It was a Saturday night and they brought the county school bus out there to take us to the courthouse," he recalled. Phillips got out of the local lockup by posting a $50 bond, and after paying the fine, he got a $15 refund. ^/^
“Some states are tougher on cockfighting these days, but it's still only a misdemeanor offense in 16 states, mainly in the South and West. Phillips bred game fowl on a 33-acre farm until he sold it five years ago. He has won his share of derbies, but never enough to make a living from the shrinking fight circuit. He's afraid the new ban on exports will kill off centuries-old bloodlines. "If you don't fight chickens, they go downhill," he said. "To keep 'em good, you've gotta fight 'em and recognize the good ones." ^/^
Philippines Cockfighting Murders, Kidnappings and Bombings
Authorities in the Philippines are searching for 34 men who disappeared after being accused of cheating in bets tied to livestreamed cockfights, or e-sabong, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigators believe the victims may have been killed and their bodies dumped in Taal Lake, a volcanic lake south of Manila. The missing men vanished between April 2021 and January 2022, with several last seen at the Manila Arena, where a group of six security guards—now the main suspects—were employed. [Source: Gabrielle Rockson, People, June 20, 2025]
Cockfighting is legal in the country, and its online version grew rapidly during the pandemic, generating significant revenue. However, the activity was later banned following reports of the disappearances. One suspect, using the alias “Totoy,” has come forward, claiming the victims were strangled and disposed of in the lake. He suggested that the number of victims could exceed 100, alleging that not only gamblers but also other individuals, including alleged drug figures, were killed and dumped there. Totoy said he participated in identifying suspected cheaters, after which other individuals allegedly carried out the killings. He also claimed the victims were bound before being taken away and expressed concern over how quickly the incidents were happening.
In December 2023, six people were charged in connection with the kidnapping of individuals linked to the cockfighting industry in the Philippines. The victims were reportedly abducted in January while on their way to a cockfight in Manila. The suspects have denied the allegations. The case is part of a series of unexplained disappearances connected to the cockfighting world, a popular betting activity in the country. Authorities report that at least 27 individuals tied to the industry remain missing, with diminishing hope that they will be found alive. In a separate case, three former police officers have also been charged for allegedly abducting a cockfighting enthusiast from his home in August 2021. The victim was reportedly accused of operating a fraudulent betting website. [Source: Kathryn Armstrong, BBC, December 23, 2022]
In April 2012, Three people were killed and dozens injured after a grenade was thrown into a crowded cockfighting arena in Aleosan, North Cotabato, in the southern Philippines. The attack occurred during an event that had drawn a large number of spectators. Police said the suspect, believed to be a local resident, tossed the grenade into the cockpit. Survivors reportedly recognized him, and authorities suggested the motive was a personal grudge rather than a broader attack. [Source: BBC, April 14, 2012]
Provincial police chief Conrado Salinas stated that the man may have lost money in previous cockfights and carried out the act in retaliation. Investigators focused on this angle as the likely reason for the incident. Officials said the explosion was not linked to ongoing security issues in the region, which has experienced violence involving insurgent groups. They also ruled out any connection to a separate bus bombing that had occurred days earlier in a nearby town.
Philippines Police Chief Killed by Fighting Cock During a Raid
In October 2020, a Philippine police chief was killed during a raid on an illegal cockfight in Northern Samar after being struck by a rooster’s blade. Lieutenant Christian Bolok, who led the operation in San Jose town, was gathering evidence when a fighting cock’s razor-sharp spur cut his left thigh, severing his femoral artery. He was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival. [Source: AFP, October 27, 2020; BBC, October 28, 2020]
Provincial police chief Colonel Arnel Apud described the incident as “an unfortunate accident” and “a piece of bad luck that I cannot explain.” He added that in his 25 years of service, it was the first time he had lost an officer due to a cockfighting spur.
During the raid, authorities arrested three individuals and confiscated several fighting roosters, bladed spurs, and cash used for betting. Additional suspects were reported to have escaped and remained at large.
Before the pandemic, cockfighting was legally allowed only in licensed venues on designated days such as Sundays, holidays, and local fiestas. The temporary ban led to continued underground operations, including the illegal event where the incident occurred.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; “Culture Shock!: Philippines” by Alfredo Roces and Grace Roces, Marshall Cavendish International, 2010; Metropolitan Museum of Art; National Geographic, Live Science, Philippines Department of Tourism, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.
Last updated March 2026