North Cotabato cops arrest spider derby afficionados
Breaking News • 21:52 PM Wed Oct 21, 2015
2,353
By:
Edwin Fernandez and DXND Radyo Bida report
Spider derby, a sports as gambliing
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Police here arrested Tuesday more
than 30 persons for engaging in what police said was illegal spider derby in Barangay Poblacion.Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum, North Cotabato police
chief, led the operation against illegal game, more known among children in
rural communities as spider fighting,” and hauled at least 35 persons to the
Kidapawan City PNP lock up cell.
Tagum said what the police found in the area was a
fighting arena, similar to a cockfighting compound (galleria). A covered passage was surrounded by bettors,
mostly male from children to adults at the time of the raid.
Everybody was yelling, shouting and clapping as two
huge spiders were fighting it out in the middle of crowd. He said bettors and
spectators ran to different directions after police fired warning shot but many
were arrested.
It was not clear what specific law was violated in
the spider fighting which one participant claimed katuwaan lang” (just for
fun).
Police seized several species of spiders and huge
amount of money as bets from the arrested persons.
The area was so popular that even bettors from North
Cotabato towns and from Davao del Sur were lured to participate.
Tagum said it was not just for fun because it
involved huge amount of bets, making it illegal.
Spider fighting (Hiligaynonand pahibag sang damang
Cebuanoand paaway kaka or sabong sa kaka) is a popular blood sport among rural
Filipino children, especially in the Bisaya region, according to Wikipedia.
The game begins by placing two spiders at opposite
ends of a stick. The spiders are then prodded to move along the length of the
stick until they encounter each other and fight.
Female spiders (orb-weavers) will kill a rival if
the loser does not quickly flee or receive the aid of a human handler.
Most of the participants in spider derby were
children in rural areas thus it was discouraged by local leaders since it
affects the education performance of children.
Local laws are in effect in some areasagainst this kind of blood
sport. In Negros Occidental, spider derbies
are treated as a threat to public morals.