007JL Sabong in Philippine Law: Licensed Cockpits and the 2022 Suspension

E-sabong (online cockfighting) operations have been suspended nationwide since 2022. Executive Order No. 9, signed on 28 December 2022 by President Marcos Jr., directs that all of them continue to be suspended, auxiliary operations included. What stays lawful is the traditional cockfight, and this page shows you what sabong means in Philippine law, which rules govern a licensed cockpit and where to read each of them.

The 007JL lobby’s side menu has a Sabong entry, and e-sabong operations have been suspended nationwide since 2022 under Executive Order No. 9. That pairing is the reason this section exists on a reference site: you get the law and the words, and no instruction to wager. If you want to check any operator’s standing for yourself, start with how to check if 007JL is legit.

What sabong means in Philippine law

Sabong is the Tagalog word for cockfighting. The statute does not use it: the Cockfighting Law of 1974, Presidential Decree No. 449, defines cockfighting in Section 4(a) as the game commonly known as “cockfighting derby, pintakasi or tupada”, or its equivalent terms in different Philippine localities. So sabong, tupada and pintakasi are names for the same lawful activity when it takes place inside the rules.

Section 2 gives the decree its reach: it governs the establishment, operation, maintenance and ownership of cockpits. The reading of cockfighting as a tradition, and not as a commercial enterprise, sits in the decree’s own opening paragraphs.

Sabong rules under PD 449

The decree sets the frame every licensed cockpit works inside. These are the provisions you will meet most often, quoted by section number:

1. Section 5(a): only Filipino citizens not otherwise inhibited by law may own, manage and operate cockpits.
2. Section 5(b): one cockpit in each city or municipality, and two where the population is over one hundred thousand.
3. Section 5(c): cockpits are built within the areas the zoning law or ordinance prescribes.
4. Section 5(d): cockfighting is allowed only in licensed cockpits, on Sundays and legal holidays and during local fiestas for not more than three days.
5. Section 5(f): no gambling of any kind is permitted on the cockpit premises during cockfights.
6. Section 7: gaffers, referees and bet takers need a licence renewed every year on their birthmonth.

Dates and days are set out in full on the page about cockfighting in the Philippines, with the days the decree closes cockpits. Penalties sit in Section 8: prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of two thousand pesos for owners, operators, gaffers, referees and bet takers. EO 9 also recites that PD No. 1602 prescribes stiffer penalties, so read both texts for the current figure.

Where sabong is licensed

Licensing is local. Section 6 of PD 449 authorizes city and municipal mayors to issue licences for the operation and maintenance of cockpits, subject to the approval of the Chief of Constabulary or authorized representatives. The Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act No. 7160, then gives the sangguniang bayan in Section 447 and the sangguniang panlungsod in Section 458 the power to authorize and license the establishment, operation and maintenance of cockpits and to regulate cockfighting and commercial breeding of gamecocks.

The result is that the day-to-day rules of one cockpit come from its own local ordinance. When the decree leaves a point open, the cockpit and the ordinance of its city or municipality set it.

What has been suspended since 2022

EO 9 is titled “Directing the Continued Suspension of Electronic Sabong Operations Nationwide”. It recites that a nationwide suspension was implemented on 3 May 2022, and its Section 1 names two suspended activities.

1. Live-streaming or broadcasting of live cockfights outside cockpits or cockfighting arenas, or premises where cockfights are being held.
2. Online, remote or off-cockpit wagering on live cockfighting matches, events or activities streamed or broadcast live, wherever the betting platform is situated.

The same Section states that the operations of traditional cockfights authorized or licensed under existing laws are not covered by the suspension. Section 2 directs PAGCOR to coordinate with local government units and other agencies, and directs the DILG and the PNP to assist and act against violators. The Order took effect immediately under Section 6.

Sabong terms you will meet

The vocabulary of a cockpit is customary. Each word below has its own page, written as a definition and never as a how-to.

You will also hear sentensyador for the referee, kristo for the caller of bets, llamado for the favoured bird and dehado for the underdog. The Games and Amusements Board’s role in supervising cockfight derbies has its own page on the Games and Amusements Board and its mandate.

Reading the primary texts yourself

You do not need a secondary site to check anything on this page. Use this order:

1. Open PD 449 on lawphil.net and read Sections 4 to 8.
2. Open Executive Order No. 9 on the same site and read Section 1.
3. Open Republic Act No. 7160 and find Sections 447 and 458.
4. Open gab.gov.ph and read the Board’s mandate and functions page.
5. Ask your city or municipal hall for the local cockpit ordinance.

For anything gambling-related, 21+ applies. If a card or a wager ever stops being entertainment, read the responsible gaming rules and then work through how to know your limits.