A society’s advanced technology and modern infrastructure does not necessarily equate with an advanced and modern culture. Countries that lack transportation infrastructure, plumbing, fast internet speeds, and other modern home amenities may not have as significant a culture gap. A traveler’s ethics and standards as it applies to culture are not as high as an advocate working to “improve” society through education and awareness. As a country’s guest, it’s best to be hospitable in the moment than challenge societal norms (not to mention it’s a lot safer).
Compounding the cultural dilemma is these activities tend to make for highly entertaining and memorable local experiences because you are seeing something for the first and possibly only time. The activities provide full local flavor. Although if a local custom is so abhorrent there is no need to patronize or financial support the activity.
Compounding the cultural dilemma is these activities tend to make for highly entertaining and memorable local experiences because you are seeing something for the first and possibly only time. The activities provide full local flavor. Although if a local custom is so abhorrent there is no need to patronize or financial support the activity.
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It was a mid-afternoon on a Sunday and I was heading to a cockfight. Cockpits are a common sight in Filipino small towns ranging from indoor air conditioned stadiums to makeshift barnlike facilities that may collapse in a stiff wind - the Valencia facility fell into the latter category. There was a slight hesitation on my part to attend, however, the local experience and firsthand insight overrode any trepidation of witnessing animal cruelty.
Cockfighting may be the world’s oldest spectator “sport” dating back thousands of years to ancient civilizations in Persia, India, and China. My first exposure to cock fighting was in Puerto Rico, where matches are broadcast from indoor stadiums, and therefore assumed it was the Spanish who brought cockfighting to the Philippines. It was actually the reverse. Magellan’s crew noted cockfighting in the Philippines and through the course of future trade between the Philippines, Mexico, and South America, the practice of cockfighting was also exchanged. |
Cockfight "Stadium"
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Fast forward to the present day where cockfighting is a Sunday afternoon event for Filipino men - no different than American men gathering at a bar to watch football, although Filipino participation appears to have much lower numbers...and oddly enough doesn’t automatically include drinking alcohol. Cockfighting is an owner/participant sport - the majority of stadium attendees have their roosters engage in one of the matches.
Filipino men act as their own “franchise” raising and training roosters. When you walk through a neighborhood you are as likely to see a rooster perching on a stand as you are to hear karaoke. From sunrise onward there is a constant crow of neighborhood roosters.
Filipino men act as their own “franchise” raising and training roosters. When you walk through a neighborhood you are as likely to see a rooster perching on a stand as you are to hear karaoke. From sunrise onward there is a constant crow of neighborhood roosters.
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We arrived at the Valencia Cockfight “Stadium” and made our way to a second floor viewing platform. At the start of each match an initial spread was established between two audience members (the house takes a cut from this wager). Two roosters were brought into the pen and based upon several factors (trainer, size, feistiness) one attendee will set an initial bid - say 1,000 PHP. The house then identified a second bettor who established an offer at a second amount - say 750 PHP. The initial bettor could accept or reject the wager.
Once the spread was established lower dollar bets were waged among attendees in the stands. This round of betting involved attendees shouting numbers at one another. It’s a raucous environment and as exciting as the actual match. |
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After the second round of betting finished handlers removed the spur protectors (each rooster had a five inch blade attached to its left leg), had the roosters peck each others chest a few times, then released the birds to fight. In most cases the roosters instantly entered attack mode and converged in a flurry of wings spread and legs out.
The fights were brutal and in some cases a little eery as the roosters seemed to show fighting techniques. Matches weren’t simply two roosters flying into one another with as much force as possible - in some cases it seemed the rooster had a fighting strategy - one may duck the aggressor and then counter attack from behind. Within the first five to ten seconds it became clear which rooster would be the victor although there were one or two occasions in which a rooster recovered from a slow start. |
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A referee oversaw the match and would bring the roosters together if they separated or stopped fighting. A wounded rooster would be laid in front of the still standing rooster who would then peck at the head of the wounded rooster a few more times until the fight was called. While blood was drawn on several occasions and the rings were littered with feathers on all occasions, I’m not sure any roosters died during the match.
The cockfight felt cringeworthy yet I knew very little about the activity in the U.S. The only reference to the cockfighting I was aware of is the University of South Carolina Gamecock mascot, however, I’d be naive to think fights weren’t held.
The cockfight felt cringeworthy yet I knew very little about the activity in the U.S. The only reference to the cockfighting I was aware of is the University of South Carolina Gamecock mascot, however, I’d be naive to think fights weren’t held.
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Legalized cockfighting existed until 2007 when Louisiana became the final state to establish a ban. Even with laws on the books, penalties and coverage vary - in some states it’s legal to raise roosters, provided they do not engage in fighting, thus providing an avenue to push unsanctioned fights underground. The 2014 U.S. Agricultural Act / Farm Bill sought to remedy the lack of state uniformity and included a provision that made attending a cockfigh a federal crime with the penalty being a one year maximum prison sentence and fines up to $100,000 - Alabama’s previous fine was $50.
The 2014 U.S. Farm Bill rejected a second poultry related provision - that eggs sold in California adhere to that states’ hen living condition standard that sufficient space exists for hens to stand and raise their wings. This topic illustrates the great divide between U.S. regional politics - at the same time a state is banning a sport the other is proceeding several steps further and crafting legislation to improve the foul’s living conditions. |
Determining Matches
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Different environments and laws blur the lines and arguments between the inhumane and humane treatment of roosters. On a ten-point scale where Ten = Inhumane = Cockfighting and One = Humane = Vegan, where does meat eating fall? Does a country whose citizens live in close proximity to animals and understand the farm to plate concept through direct experience fall closer to the humane side than the citizens of a country that lacks awareness of the chicken raising to supermarket process (the implication being the lack of awareness extends to unawareness or ambivalence of unsavory practices in food procurement)?
How closer does the inhumane treatment of chickens raised for food consumption move meat eating to the inhumane cockfighting side of the spectrum? How far does eating organic, free-range chicken move the needle to the humane side? |
Stadium Interior
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If you ban one form of historical, inhumane animal treatment (cockfighting) why are new, advanced forms of inhumane animal treatment allowed (overcrowded living conditions, injection of steroids, etc.)? This shows money often determines the degree to which questionable behavior is permissible.
Cockfighting in itself shouldn’t define a culture’s barbarism or backwardness. A country that allows cockfighting shouldn’t be seen as barbaric and backward based upon this practice alone. Cockfighting doesn’t occur in a vacuum absent of other historical cultural behavior and activities. While the U.S. may have federal and statewide bans on cockfighting, capital punishment is present in thirty-two states, California included...it’s been banned in the Philippines since 2006. Does the life of a murderer matter less than the life of a chicken lost in a cruel battle? Which activity is more barbaric and backward?
Cockfighting in itself shouldn’t define a culture’s barbarism or backwardness. A country that allows cockfighting shouldn’t be seen as barbaric and backward based upon this practice alone. Cockfighting doesn’t occur in a vacuum absent of other historical cultural behavior and activities. While the U.S. may have federal and statewide bans on cockfighting, capital punishment is present in thirty-two states, California included...it’s been banned in the Philippines since 2006. Does the life of a murderer matter less than the life of a chicken lost in a cruel battle? Which activity is more barbaric and backward?
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During the fight intermission we stepped outside in the “concession” area which wasn’t much more than a couple of wooden structures built into the cockfight arena’s outer walls offering a few snack items and coke. The hit item, that everyone seemed to be going for, was balut, a heated and boiled egg shell with a quasi developed duck inside. To eat, you peel the shell, add some vinegar and salt, drink the soupy yolk, then in one pop down the embryo. It sounds repulsive, yet when I thought about it, balut is not too far removed from a hard boiled egg which I enjoy, another example of the blurred the lines between acceptable animal treatment behavior.
For all the meat eating I’ve done the past month in the Philippines maybe the easiest solution to all these questions is to become a vegan. |
Eating Balut
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