Although cockfighting has been declared illegal in most countries in the world, it’s still the national Sunday afternoon pastime in the Philippines.
Last Sunday I visited the Limcua Juanay Memorial Cockpit in Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines. It was an experience that showed me once again how thin our veneer of civilization truly is.
My host was a gentle man who loves his family and makes the sign of the cross every time we drive past a Catholic church. But once he entered the cockpit, I could see the joy on his face as he looked forward to another afternoon of this ancient blood sport.
The arena was covered to ensure that the fights would go on even during the predictable tropical storms. The arena was large enough to hold at least a thousand people; the place was almost full the day I was there. The central stage was 5 meters square. Although it was raised well above the surrounding area, it was covered with dirt to make the cocks feel more at home.
I had spent at least two months in the company of Filipinos and found them to be the most gentle and loving people I’ve met while visiting some 50 countries. When they enter a cockpit, however, they go through an immediate transformation – and so did I. We were clearly there to watch the fowl fight to their death, and to spice the jousts with a little betting.
The cock owners carried the birds with their heads facing them; I suspect it prevented them from seeing the other birds. Once they were in the ring, however, the owners slowly swung their birds towards each other a few times and then gently dropped them on the dirt about two metres from their opposite numbers. Interestingly, I had the impression that the cocks were ignoring each other. They strutted slowly and made no aggressive moves whatsoever. Then, with no warning, the cocks would leap at each other with wild fury, their feet straight out in front of them very much the way kung fu fighters leap at their opponents. The fowl used their talons to squeeze the other’s throat and to tear out its eyes. Neither side showed mercy. Then, just as quickly as the fight had started, it was over – generally in less than a minute. In almost every case one of the cocks lay dead on the dirt and the other had it pinned down; the ‘umpire’ had to tear the winner from his deceased opponent.
While this was going on, the men were participating through betting. They mouthed a kind of primeval war cry and gesticulated to one another with hand signals designed just for the purpose – they bent their hands at right angles to their forearms and held out several fingers to indicate the amount they wanted to bet. Men sealed their bets by touching the back of their fingers. The glee of the betting was palpable. The fight in the ring became a backdrop to the betting. It seemed to me that the fight was no longer important; the betting was the critical issue.
Unlike horse racing, I couldn’t find any reason to recommend one cock over another. There were no racing sheets giving the track records or the pedigrees of the cocks. Rather, the cocks simply appeared in the ring and the men began betting randomly – or so it seemed to me.
It didn’t take me long to get caught up in the fighting and the betting myself. I made $2 bets, lost five times straight, licked my wounds and bowed out of more betting. My host, however, didn’t let his losses faze him. He kept betting until he was $50 up and continued until he had lost all of his winnings and another $20 as well. He told me that bets of $1,000 to $3,000 were not unheard of. But the winning and the losing was never the point. The point was to keep the adrenalin pumping – and it did.
The fights start promptly at 1 pm on Sundays and run until 6 pm. There is no recess during these five hours; one tournament follows another nonstop. When one bird wins and his opponent dies, both are carried out of the arena unceremoniously. Win, lose, draw or die – the birds do what they are bred to do. There is no time for remorse.
Interestingly, there were almost no women evident. Women are not prevented from coming – and some do – but they are not common. Cockfighting is a man’s sport.
The question of animal cruelty never came up. It seemed irrelevant at the time. Of course, the cockfight is the epitome of animal cruelty. But so what? Birds will do what birds will do – and who are we to judge them?
Photo Credits
Getting ready to fight – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Cocks leaping at each other – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Recent Jan Wall Articles:
- What I Did Right on This World Trip
- What I Did Wrong on This World Trip
- Sanctuaria Treehouses: A Fantasy Getaway in Rock and Stone
- Coron: Just Another Day in Paradise in the Philippines
- Kuala Lumpur: A Rich and Modern City That Hides Its Blemishes Well
OMG – you people commenting are hilarious. You are imposing first world norms on third world societies and condemning them. Let’s see how you react if you did not live in Palo Alto or New York and had to survive without three guaranteed meals. The value of human and animal life is directly correlated to where you are standing at any given moment.
Hi Scott,
Actually I shared this article with a couple Pinoys who enjoy cockfighting but are also aware of how the rest of the world views this medieval sport. Both of them had a different view. They commented on how I was able to present the act so objectively and accurately WITHOUT condemning it even though I was certainly inclined to do so.
Becoming familiar with chickens that were bread for their eggs by Human beings, it is clear how these creatures have evolved to be detached from their own, natural real feelings and grace inherent in most other animals–courtesy of us who grab their babies, each morning. Taking care of the farm of my vacationing neighbors, I noticed a few elderly chicken ladies with deathly sad expressions in their eyes vocally lamented the loss of their eggs, even a long time after I took their eggs away. Overcome by feelings of compassion, I offered them extra “candy” corn, each day. It did not take away their sadness.
Cock fights are the next evolution of cruelty imposed on animals by humans, breading animals that reflect their own, cruel, nature not inherent in most other creatures of the world.
Shame, shame, shame.
Actually, Joanne, I do agree with you completely. I went there for the cultural experience (if you can call it that). And I wanted to write about it in as objective a way as I can.
The more I learn about how we treat all types of animals, the less I want to eat any animal meat at all. I’m going vegan to the extent I can. It is not easy when traveling, though.
Jan, thanks for sharing another piece of your journey! While reading about the cockfighting match, I thought, how cruel can the organizers be and how insensitive are the spectators to witness with great delight this bloody sport which ends in trauma or death. Upon reading further, I became aware of your non-judgemental attitude and immediately adjusted my initial reaction. Although, I will not consciously participate in the sport, I choose not to judge those who do. I realize this is limiting and doesn’t allow for a fair discussion in promoting awareness.
My curiosity also led to looking-into one of your final statements, “birds will do what birds will do” I wanted to explore the sentiment in the statement. I found a very comprehensive article by Barry Kent MacKay on the subject and discovered that “domesticated strains of the Red Junjle Fowl, a species native to southeast Asia forests, have been bred to enhance the ‘fighting’ characteristics to the degree that is heritable.” Please find link: Do Roosters Naturally Fight: upc-online.org
Looking forward to more of your observation, Jan!
An interesting topic and a good journalistic account, though I would love to know what Jan really felt. I looked up Mackay’s article mentioned by Gloray and was surprised by the lucid and matter-of-fact account as opposed to the screeching tone of many animal rights proponents. Apparently we have picked on a latent characteristic of roosters and selectively bred for it. So much for natural. You could say the same about any other animal that’s brushed against the human world – lap dogs, dobermans, pitbulls, hairless cats, prizewinning bulls, and 40lb turkeys.
I personally don’t think it is meaningful for humans to confer rights on non-sentient creatures that cannot recognize those rights themselves, but I do believe that our humanity demands attention to our moral and mental (spiritual?) wellbeing. This is sufficient in my view to prohibit unnecessary death and suffering.
Actually, Robin, I thought the whole thing was disgusting. I had to work hard during the event not to scream out about the cruelty.
But we show cruelty to all animals. In the Philippines, people kick dogs for no reason whatsoever. In America, chicken farmers and pig farmers pack their livestock as closely together in order to maximize the yield. In Japan, they prove that they are out to slaughter all the whales in the sea and no one tries to stop them.
Now I see how the governments in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Laos treat their populations with neglect. There is literally no decent health care in Cambodia. Anyone with any money in this country makes a mad dash to Vietnam or Thailand to get even minor medical attention. We see prgroms going on all over the world and no one d=gives a damn.