By Antonio Colina IV DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte said on Monday that the city official responsible for a series of derbies at a local cockfighting arena has resigned. At least four people who attended these derbies have died due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Mayor Sara Duterte (Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) In a statement, Duterte said the head of the Business Permit and Licensing Division could have prevented the staging of the cockfighting events at the New Matina Gallera on March 7, 10 and 12, which has been widely regarded as a main source of the COVID-19 outbreak in the city. “It was a judgment call that was never made,” she said. But she pointed out that there was no apparent violation made by the official as the community quarantine in the city was imposed on March 15, and the order to close all cockfighting arena, including New Matina Gallera, was only issued March 12 due to the possibility of spreading the coronavirus at such a mass gathering of cockfighting aficionados. “This serves as a reminder for all officials in the City Government to always put forward the general welfare of the residents of the city. I hope that this shall be a lesson that no one will ever forget, especially for those who work to serve Davao City and the Dabawenyos,” she said. Duterte, who ordered an investigation into the incident, said the official responsible issued a permit to New Matina Gallera on March 3 after it complied with all the requirements and secured an approval from the City Council on February 4. Amid the increasing confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, she said guidelines on COVID-19 was issued on March 8, although it did not prohibit the conduct of private events, and set the direction on postponing all private events, particularly mass gatherings. As of April 5, the Department of Health-Davao reported that there were three new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region, which brought to 80 the total number of cases. Davao City has reported the highest number of cases in the Davao Region with 65. Davao del Norte has nine, Davao Oriental, three; Davao del Sur, two; and Davao de Oro with one. Davao Occidental has no confirmed case yet.