BARANGAY officials who lead or engage in illegal cockfighting activities in their area of responsibility will be cuffed, charged and shamed.
Thus warned Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, as he ordered a verification of a report that a barangay chairman in an area with a high COVID infection rate was engages in illegal cockfighting.
“May sulpot-sulpot na sabong. Pag natiyempuhan namin at nakumpirma kong nagpapasabong ka, poposasan kita, sinasabi ko na sa ‘yo. Ang kahihiyang tatanggapin mo, di mo na ikababangon pa. Puro kayo katalipandasan. Me panganib na nga eh, puro pa kayo sugal. Makakati pala palad nyo eh di itabi n’yo ‘yan, kamutin n’yo sa pader,” said Moreno.
Moreno admonished illegal cockfighters, saying they should pity their families who have nothing to eat and yet they can still afford to gamble.
“Gusto n’yo ulit masubukan baka akala nyo nagpapabaya kami. Ayokong nagkakahiyaan hangga’t maari. Kita n’yo, ang haba ng pasensiya at pang-unawang binibigay natin dala ng hirap ng tao pero ‘yung ibang nagsisiga-sigaan, sa mismong bahay mo chairman, sa harapan ng pamilya mo makakatikim ka ng posas,” he reiterated.
Moreno said this, based on information that the said chairman had been using his very own property for illegal cockfighting.
The mayor expressed hope that the reports reaching him are not true. If ever they are true, he assured the law will be strictly applied to the chairman, especially given his status supposedly as a leader in his community and part of the local government.
Instead of engaging in gambling, Moreno said that the residents should instead use their money to buy food and other basic necessities.
The first district of Tondo, Sampaloc and Malate continue to have the highest cases at 584, 541 and 357, followed by Tondo 2, Sta. Cruz and San Andres with 338, 316 and 228 active COVID cases, respectively, as of March 25.
