Raps filed vs Binay for turning coliseum into cockpit

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and 18 members of the city’s Sangguniang Panglungsod were charged yesterday at the Office of the Ombudsman for graft over alleged irregularities in the use of the Makati Coliseum.

In a joint affidavit-complaint, seven complainants, led by Rolly Ligon of the Metro Manila Cockpit Owners and Operators, and Roberto Brillante, convenor of the Campaign for Public Accountability (CPA), asked the Office of the Ombudsman to order the Makati City government to stop the holding of cockfights at the Makati Coliseum.

According to the complainants, the coliseum was built in 1997 as a venue for sports and other recreational activities for Makati residents.

However, the complainants claimed Binay, Mercado and members of the City Council committed a grave misconduct when they allegedly granted a sports and amusement firm a franchise to hold cockfights at the coliseum.

The complainants added that under Presidential Decree 449, or the Cockfighting Law of 1974, operation of cockpits within public buildings is prohibited.

"While the local government units have been empowered by law to grant operating franchises to cockpits within its jurisdiction, such law does not allow them to engage in the business of building, owning or operating cockpits," the complainants said. "The Local Government Code does not authorize it. To permit the city of Makati to dedicate one of its public buildings to cockfighting is a bad precedent."