PanaloKO PD 1602: Cockfighting, Penalties and the 2022 Suspension

PD 1602 is the 1978 decree that raised the penalties for illegal gambling, and cockfighting is the first game it names. Before you read a line of it, you need the 2022 picture.

Online e-sabong was stopped nationwide on 3 May 2022 by President Duterte’s spoken order, given in a taped broadcast and not written as an order. Executive Order No. 9, signed by President Marcos on 28 December 2022, formally suspended e-sabong operations nationwide. That suspension is why the sections below keep three things apart: the decree, the cockfighting law, and the 2022 suspension.

This page quotes the decree’s own text from lawphil.net. Every peso figure and prison term below is printed in the source, and each one carries its section number so you can check it yourself.

PD 1602 at a glance

Presidential Decree No. 1602 was signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos in Manila on 11 June 1978. Its title reads “Prescribing Stiffer Penalties on Illegal Gambling”.

The opening clauses say existing gambling laws, among them Articles 195-199 of the Revised Penal Code, Republic Act 3063 and Presidential Decrees 449 (Cockfighting), 483, 510 and 1306, “prescribe penalties which are inadequate”.

Illegal gambling penalty Philippines players find in Section 1

Section 1 is the penalty section, and it works by role. Each paragraph names a person and gives a penalty, so the illegal gambling penalty in the Philippines under this decree depends on what part someone played. Here is each paragraph as printed.

1. Section 1(a)(1), participants: prision correccional in its medium period, or a fine ranging from one thousand to six thousand pesos. For recidivism, prision mayor in its medium period, or a fine ranging from five thousand to ten thousand pesos.
2. Section 1(a)(2), permitting gambling in a place or vehicle: the same base penalty. Where the place has a reputation as a gambling place, or is a public or government building or barangay hall, the text says prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of six thousand pesos.
3. Section 1(b), the maintainer or conductor: prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine of six thousand pesos.
4. Section 1(c), a government official who is maintainer, conductor or banker: prision mayor in its medium period with temporary absolute disqualification, or a fine of six thousand pesos.
5. Section 1(d), possessing lottery lists: prision correccional in its medium period, or a fine ranging from four hundred to two thousand pesos. The paragraph names jueteng, jai-alai, horse racing bookies and similar lottery and numbers games.
6. Section 1(e), a barangay official who fails to abate a known gambling place: temporary absolute disqualification.
7. Section 1(f), security officers of places with a gambling reputation: prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from five hundred to two thousand pesos.

Section 2 adds an informer’s reward of twenty percent of the cash money or articles of value confiscated or forfeited in favour of the government. Section 3 repeals provisions of the earlier gambling laws that are inconsistent with the decree, and Section 4 makes it effective on publication.

Where cockfighting sits in PD 1602

Cockfighting appears twice in the decree. The opening clauses list Presidential Decree 449 (Cockfighting), and Section 1(a)(1) puts “illegal or unauthorized activities or games of cockfighting” first in a long list that also names jueteng, jai alai, horse racing, bingo, mahjong, slot machines and card games.

The words that matter are “illegal or unauthorized”. The decree punishes the illegal or unauthorized game, and the law that decides which cockfighting is authorized is a different one.

PD 449 and where lawful cockfighting sits

The Cockfighting Law of 1974 is Presidential Decree No. 449, signed on 9 May 1974. Its Section 5 is the part to read if you want to know where lawful cockfighting happens. These are the points it prints.

1. Section 5(b): one cockpit in each city or municipality, and two where the population is over one hundred thousand.
2. Section 5(d): cockfighting only in licensed cockpits on Sundays and legal holidays, and during local fiestas for not more than three days.
3. Section 5(f): no gambling of any kind on the premises other than the cockfight itself.
4. Section 6: city and municipal mayors issue cockpit licences.
5. Section 7: gaffers, referees and bet takers need a yearly licence.
6. Section 8: a cockpit owner or operator faces prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of two thousand pesos.

Section 4(a) also defines cockfighting as the commonly known game or term “cockfighting derby, pintakasi or tupada”. That definition is why the stag derby page on this site starts from the decree’s own word.

How RA 9287 touched PD 1602

Republic Act No. 9287 was approved on 2 April 2004. Its title calls it an act increasing the penalties for illegal numbers games and amending certain provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1602.

1. Scope: illegal numbers games such as jueteng, masiao and last two, which Section 2 defines.
2. Section 3: imprisonment of thirty days to ninety days for a bettor in an illegal numbers game.
3. Reading: the RA 9287 amendments page goes through it section by section.

The 2022 suspension and EO 9

The suspension is the part of this story that changed what readers search for. Executive Order No. 9 is titled “Directing the Continued Suspension of Electronic Sabong Operations Nationwide”, and its opening clauses record that a nationwide suspension was implemented on 03 May 2022. Section 1 suspends two activities.

1. Live-streaming or broadcasting of live cockfights outside cockpits or cockfighting arenas.
2. Online, remote or off-cockpit wagering on live cockfighting matches.

The same section states that “traditional cockfights authorized or licensed under existing laws” are not covered. The order was made at Manila on 28 December 2022 and took effect immediately under Section 6.

The cockpit words behind the law

Sabong has its own vocabulary, and these four pages explain terms with named references rather than guesses. None of them gives a prize, entry fee or odds figure.

Reading the law alongside this site

Three short pages on this site frame how to use what you have just read.

1. Read responsible play basics if gambling has stopped being fun for you or someone near you.
2. Check whether PanaloKO is legit on the page that answers that question directly.
3. See how a casino affiliate site like this one is organised, and browse the PanaloKO casino overview for the games side of the brand.

You must be 21 or older to gamble in the Philippines. The decree text is the authority on penalties, so quote it, not a summary.