JILIEVO Cockfighting Law of 1974: Sections, Days and Penalties

The Cockfighting Law of 1974 was signed on 9 May 1974 and still sets the rules for licensed cockpits. Online e-sabong is a separate matter: it has been suspended nationwide since 3 May 2022, and Executive Order No. 9, signed by President Marcos on 28 December 2022, directed that the suspension continue. This page walks through the decree section by section, quoting its own text, then shows how it sits beside that suspension.

The sabong pages on this site are legal and cultural explainers. They carry no betting instructions, and every page on the site is for readers aged 21 and over.

The Cockfighting Law of 1974 at a glance

The decree has ten sections and fits on a few screens. The table below maps each section to what it settles, so you can jump to the part you need.

PD 449: scope, policy and definitions

The recitals call cockfighting “a popular, traditional and customary form of recreation and entertainment among Filipinos”. They add that it should neither be exploited as “an object of commercialism or business enterprise” nor made “a tool of uncontrolled gambling”. That tone runs through the whole decree.

Section 3 states three policy goals:

1. To control and regulate cockfighting towards its establishment as a national recreation, relaxation and source of entertainment.
2. To provide additional revenue for the tourism program.
3. To remove and prevent excessive and unreasonable business operation and profit considerations in the management of cockpits.

Section 4 defines the words you meet in a cockpit. The decree names a bet taker or promoter, a gaffer (taga tari), a referee (sentenciador) and a bettor. The tupada meaning in the decree’s own definition comes from Section 4(a), which lists “cockfighting derby, pintakasi or tupada”, and the logro meaning and the called odds of the pit sit in the bet taker’s role of calling and taking bets.

Presidential Decree 449: who may own a cockpit and how many

Presidential Decree 449 gives ownership its own rule in Section 5(a). Only Filipino citizens not otherwise inhibited by existing laws may own, manage and operate cockpits, and cooperative capitalization is encouraged. Section 5(b) then caps the number.

Section 5(c) deals with siting. Cockpits are built within the areas a zoning law or ordinance prescribes. Where no such law exists, local executives must see that none is built within or near residential or commercial areas, hospitals, school buildings, churches or other public buildings, and existing cockpits that did not conform were given three years to comply. The sabungan and cockpit arena rules on ownership, number and siting take this section apart in more detail.

Days when cockfighting may be held

Section 5(d) is the calendar. Except as the decree provides, cockfighting is allowed only in licensed cockpits, and only on set occasions.

1. Sundays and legal holidays.
2. Local fiestas, for not more than three days.
3. Provincial, city or municipal agricultural, commercial or industrial fairs, carnivals or expositions, for a similar three days, on a resolution of the place concerned and subject to the approval of the Chief of Constabulary or his authorized representative.

Two provisos tighten this. A fair, carnival or exposition may not host cockfighting within the month of a local fiesta, or on more than two occasions a year in the same city or municipality. No cockfighting at all may be held on December 30 (Rizal Day), June 12 (Philippine Independence Day), November 30 (National Heroes Day), Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Election or Referendum Day, and the Registration Days for such an election or referendum.

Section 5(e) adds a one-time allowance of up to three days a year for a province, city or municipality: entertainment of foreign dignitaries, tourists or returning Filipinos (“Balikbayan”), or national fund-raising for charity authorised by the Office of the President. Section 5(f) bars gambling of any kind on the premises of the cockpit or place of cockfighting during cockfights.

Licensing of cockpits and cockfighting officials

Section 6 authorises city and municipal mayors to issue licences for the operation and maintenance of cockpits, subject to the approval of the Chief of Constabulary or his authorized representatives. Ordinances may impose taxes and fees within the rates the section cites from the Local Tax Code of 1973. Section 7 licenses the people in the pit.

Cities and municipalities may charge a tax of not more than twenty pesos for these licences. Only licensed officials may officiate in any cockfighting the decree authorises.

Penalties under Section 8

Section 8 applies to any violation of the decree and of the rules the Chief of Constabulary issued under it.

The recitals of Executive Order No. 9 add that PD No. 1602 of 1978 prescribes stiffer penalties for illegal or unauthorised cockfighting. Section 9 of the decree repeals Sections 2285 and 2286 of the Revised Penal Code and anything inconsistent with it.

How PD 449 sits beside the e-sabong suspension

PD 449 deals with cockpits and fights on the ground. Executive Order No. 9 deals with e-sabong: live-streaming of cockfights outside cockpits, and online, remote or off-cockpit betting on them. Section 1 of the order ends with a carve-out: traditional cockfights authorised or licensed under existing laws are not covered by the suspension.

The e-sabong suspension under Executive Order No. 9 lays out who enforces the order and which earlier laws it cites. PAGCOR coordinates, and the DILG and the PNP assist.

Four sabong law questions, in reading order

Each page below answers one question and quotes the text of the decree or of Executive Order No. 9.

1. The cockpit arena page covers ownership, number and siting.
2. The tupada page covers the word and cockfights outside licensed cockpits.
3. The logro page covers the vocabulary of called odds, with no payout figures.
4. The e-sabong suspension page covers Executive Order No. 9.

Why a casino site explains PD 449

This site is a player guide to the JILIEVO casino lobby, and the JILIEVO casino overview covers the lobby’s tabs and how to check it. The sabong pages exist because readers ask about Philippine cockfighting law, not because they lead to a game. If you are weighing any online operator, the Curaçao casino license register and how it is read explains the regulator’s own list, and the responsible play tools and 21+ rules cover self-exclusion.

When a casino word in a lobby screen is new to you, the casino terms explained in the site glossary give each one in plain English.