Up in arms over ban vs cockfighting

Several local lawmakers have expressed concern over the U.S. House of Representatives’ support of a bill that would ban cockfighting in U.S. territories, with one believing it to be a violation of the Covenant, which created the U.S- CNMI political relationship.

The U.S. House voted last Thursday in support of the 2018 Farm Bill, which has a provision to ban “animal fighting,” Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) told Saipan Tribune.

The provision, according to Sablan, would override local laws that legalizes and regulates cockfighting. Sablan noted that federal law already bans interstate shipment of “fighting animals” and “animal fighting” in all 50 states except for the U.S. territories.

“…Whether cockfighting should continue in the Marianas should remain a matter for local officials to decide,” Sablan said in a statement. “If Commonwealth officials decide to ban cockfighting in the Marianas, I would have no problem with that. But I have an issue with [U.S.] Congress enacting legislation overriding a Commonwealth law without input from Northern Marianas citizens and officials.”

This was echoed in a prior statement by Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU), who said Guam and the other U.S. territories have already enacted own local laws to regulate cockfighting, “and Congress should not force this ban on our jurisdictions.”

“I stand with my colleagues from the territories in opposing this amendment and speaking out against Congress’ attempt to outlaw this culturally significant practice. None of the territories’ representative to Congress were given an opportunity to provide input on this amendment, and it is not right for Congress to dictate this matter on our constituents when we are denied an opportunity vote against it on the House floor,” said Bordallo.

The Farm Bill provision reportedly did not seek prior comments from citizens of the U.S. territories, prompting Sablan to join the delegates of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico to oppose the provision.

Sen. Teresita A. Santos (R-Rota) believes that Congress overriding a local law without first seeking local input might be in violation of the Covenant.

“[The legalization of cockfighting] is local in domain. We should have the right to decide on those issues instead of the federal government taking away a culture that has been embedded in us,” Santos said. “[The federal government] is overstepping on legislation that is local in nature.”

House Speaker Rafael S. Demapan (R-Saipan) believes it is “naïve and disrespectful” to think of cockfighting in the NMI as a “pastime entertainment or sport.”

“Cockfighting and raising of game fowl have been a part of our culture and history…for many generations,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune. “…It is, in fact, some of the few local practices still passed down by our elders that is still [being practiced], even by our youth.”

Demapan added that the practice helps further preserve the CNMI culture.

“…Having U.S. Congress propose to singlehandedly ban a part of our culture that we actively still practice today without understanding its value to our way of life and without consultation…is concerning,” said Demapan, adding that policies pertaining to cockfighting should lie “within the prerogative of each territory and state and not by the U.S. Congress or federal government.”

Senate President Arnold I. Palacios (R-Saipan) believes that the NMI should be exempted from the provision, given how important cockfighting is to the local culture.

“The territories have had [cockfighting] for centuries. I am hoping that [Bordallo] and even Sablan [and other delegates of the territories] are trying to take that [provision] out,” he said.

The 2018 Farm Bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for review.