Recreation Rio... Sport and recreation on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro

‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’...Cockfighting in The Philippines Edwin Velez, 64, waves his arms frantically, attracting the attention of other gamblers around him. He is frenetic in the moment, his eye’s bulge, his heart races, his hands send out signals in Filipino metaphor, striking deals with other men around him who are equally as animated, the cockpit is full to the rafters as over 1000 men gamble their earnings on the cockfight. After a brief taunting of each bird the shields to the razor sharp three inch steel blades attached to the back of their left legs are removed. The gambling pandemonium abruptly dies down and is replaced by a brief silence of anticipation as the cocks are let loose in the centre of the ring. Soon the arena is greeted with gasps and groans and within seconds one of the roosters lies dead in the centre of the ring, It’s beautiful white feathers now tainted with it’s own blood. It is another ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ at the La Loma Cockpit in the heart of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Edwin Valez settles his debts, a loser this time, but within seconds the whole process starts again, another two owners and their prized cocks enter the ring for the next fight, Valez studies the birds briefly, looking for a sign a weakness in either of the birds, something he has been doing successfully since 1959 when he first gambled on the fights to supplement his income as a janitor, he now makes his ‘living’ gambling professionally. Cockfighting, or Sabong as it is know in the Philippines is big business, a multi billion dollar industry, overshadowing Basketball as the number one sport in the country. It is estimated over 5 million Roosters will fight in the smalltime pits and full-blown arenas in a calendar year. TV stations are devoted to the sport where fights can be seen every night of the week while The Philippine economy benefits by more than $1 billion a year from breeding farms employment, selling feed and drugs and of course betting on the fights. As one of the worlds oldest spectator sports dating back 6000 years in Persia (now Iran) and first mentioned in fourth century Greek Texts. It is still practiced in many countries today, particularly in south and Central America and parts of Asia. Cockfighting is now illegal in the USA after Louisiana becoming the final state to outlaw cockfighting in August this year. This has led to an influx of American breeders into the Philippines with these breeders supplying most of the best fighting cocks, with prices for quality blood lines selling from PHP 8000 pesos (US $160) to as high as PHP 120,000 Pesos (US $2400). It is brutal sport and one which animal rights movements are keen to outlaw for obvious reasons. Often both birds die from the wounds inflicted by the razor sharp blades used in the fights, which can last for up to ten minutes, but are usually over in the blink of an eye. If the winner is lucky enough to still be alive despite his injuries, he is whisked away to the waiting ‘cock doctors’ behind the sheds of the cockpit, who clean the birds wounds and stitch them back together so they may live to fight another day, or at least breed after he has recovered from his injuries. Animal rights activists from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) demonstrated at the World Slasher Cup earlier this year, A biannual event, the competition draws entries form around the World to The Philippines. They held banners that read ‘Small Men Hurt Birds. Ban Cockfighting!’ PETA said in a statement, ‘While other countries have banned cockfighting or are cracking down on the cruel bloody sport, the Philippines’ image is being tainted internationally for allowing animals to be tortured in the name of sport. There’s no place for such outdated and cruel spectacles as the cockfight in modern society. Tradition has never been a good excuse for savage cruelty.’ Despite the animal rights outcries there is no sign of the Philippines outlawing Cockfighting, many of the countries high flying government officials attend the cockpits and indeed breed birds themselves while it is such an institution in the towns and villages it would be hard to see anyone taking any notice of such a ban. When asked about the cruelty aspect of the sport and how western society views it, Edwin Velez shrugs his shoulders and replies “ You eat chicken everyday, they kill the chickens you know? These Roosters that fight here, they are Gladiators, they are treated like Gladiators, the best quality food the best of everything, they have a great life and if the Rooster wins and survives it will breed and still live a charmed life until he dies, not like the chickens you eat, they have no life at all!” With that Edwin Velez trudges out of the arena past a posse of men waiting in the parade ring proudly displaying their Roosters before the next fights. He has had a bad day, he has lost 5000 pesos (US$ 100) in the seven hours he has been gambling and can’t be bothered to stay for another three or four hours. Away from the deafening din of the gambling he sits down for a quiet moment to reflect on the days events knowing he’ll be back again tomorrow...and the next day, like so many of his compatriots, cockfighting is a way of life. Tim Clayton