The incumbent mayor of Ferrol town in Romblon was arrested along with more or less 200 others in a raid on cockfighting arena on Sunday, Feb. 6.
Police Brig. Gen. Sidney Sultan Hernia, director of the Police Regional Office 4-B, said the operation stemmed from a report sent to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) about a cockfighting activity in Barangay Tubigon in Ferrol town, which the report stated was also a violation of the health safety protocol as there were more than 200 people inside.
CIDG operatives and the local police then swooped down on the Tubigon Square Garden at around 10:30 a.m. which resulted in the arrest of Jovencio Li Mayor Jr., the incumbent mayor of Ferrol town.
They were arrested while in the act of engaging in cockfighting," said Hernia.
He added that the incident was a clear violation pursuant to IATF (inter-Agency Task Force) on COVID health safety protocol and Presidential Decree 449 or the Cockfighting Law of 1974 as amended by Presidential Decree 1602.
Confiscated from their possession and control were an Undetermined amount of bet money, gambling paraphernalia, an undetermined number of dead and live fighting cocks with attached gaffs.