[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 318, January 24, 1941 ]
By virtue of the powers vested in me under Commonwealth Act Numbered six hundred and one, entitled An Act to regulate the establishment, maintenance and operation of places of amusement in chartered cities and municipal districts,” the following rules and regulations governing cockpits are hereby promulgated:
1. Cockfighting shall take place only in licensed cockpits and only upon legal holidays other than Rizal Day, and for a period of not exceeding three days during the celebration of the town fiesta as fixed by the Municipal Council.
2. No cockpit shall be constructed or permitted to operate within the radius of one thousand lineal meters from any city hall or municipal building, provincial building, public plaza, public school, church, hospital, athletic stadium, public park, or any institution of learning or of charity; neither shall permit be issued for the construction or operation of a cockpit on a lot which is not provided with sufficient space for parking and the public roads or highways shall not be used for such purpose.
3. Before any cockpit begins to operate, the owner or concessionaire thereof shall apply for a permit from the treasurer of the city concerned, if so authorized by its charter, and in the case of a municipality or municipal district, from the Provincial Treasurer or his duly authorized representative, and no permit shall be issued without proper certificates of the City or District Engineer certifying the suitability of the building and of the City or District Health Officer certifying to the sanitary condition of said building, and only after the proper fee or tax shall have been first paid to the city or municipal treasury, as required by this Executive Order or by existing ordinances of the city, municipality or municipal district concerned, for a period of at least one quarter.
4. In addition to the permit herein required, the owner or concessionaire of a cockpit shall obtain a license from the treasure of the city, municipality or municipal district concerned, and shall pay a municipal license tax of not less than two hundred pesos annually or fifty pesos quarterly and twenty-five centavos for every cockfight held in the cockpit: Provided, however, That existing ordinances prescribing higher fees than two hundred pesos annually or fifty pesos quarterly shall remain in force until otherwise provided for by the President: Provided, further, That a city or municipal council desiring to impose a higher fee may do so upon approval of the President.
5. Any person who believes that a cockpit is established or located in any place not authorized by this Executive Order, may file a protest with the Secretary of Interior, who is hereby authorized after proper investigation to decide the case or cancel the permit and license.
6. No card game or games of chance of any kind shall be permitted in the premises of a cockpit.
7. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be allowed within the premises of any cockpit; neither shall any person under the influence of liquor be allowed to enter or stay in said premises
8. With the exception of the referee and the respective “soltadores” and other employees not exceeding four, no person shall be allowed to stay within the ring during any cockfight: Provided, however, That, if necessary to maintain peace and order, any peace officer may enter or stay in said premises.
9. No intoxicating liquor of any kind shall be sold in the premises of any cockpit nor within a distance of one hundred lineal meters from the cockpit enclosure; neither shall any firearm or, any deadly weapon be permitted to be carried within the premises thereof, except by peace officers in the due performance of official duties.
10. It shall be the duty of the owner or concessionaire of any cockpit to see that these rules and regulations are properly observed, and peace and order maintained at all times within the premises of the cockpit.
11. Any action of the City, Provincial or Municipal Treasurer under the provisions of paragraphs three and four of this Executive Order, may be appealed to the Secretary of the Interior whose decision shall be final.
12. Any violation of these rules and regulations shall be sufficient cause for the revocation by the Secretary of the Interior of the permit granted and forfeiture of the license issued.
13. Cockpits in operation on January 1, 1941, that are within the prohibited zones or distances prescribed in paragraph two of this Executive Order shall be given one year’s notice within which to close, transfer, or otherwise comply with the provisions hereof, but the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, may in special cases and for justifiable reasons, authorize their continuance in their present location.
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Done at the City of Manila, this twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-one, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the sixth.
