What is a gaff in cockfighting?

A gaff is the blade that is fitted to a fighting cock's leg for the bout. PD 449 describes the gaffer as the person knowledgeable in arming fighting cocks with gaff or gaffs on either or both legs.

Who is the gaffer in sabong?

The gaffer, or taga tari, is the licensed official who arms the birds. PD 449 Section 4(d) defines the role, and the referee oversees the proper gaffing.

Does a gaffer need a licence?

Yes. PD 449 Section 7 says gaffers, referees and bet takers need a licence, renewable every year on their birth month, from the city or municipality where the cockfight is held.

What is the penalty for a gaffer who breaks the decree?

Section 8 puts a gaffer in the higher band: prision correccional in its maximum period and a fine of two thousand pesos.

JILIWIN Gaff Cockfighting in the Philippines: the Gaffer

In this section
Fact	Value
JILIWIN 5 Cock Derby Format and Permits	A 5 cock derby is a cockfighting derby in which each entry fields five birds, and the entry with the best record across the bouts wins.
JILIWIN Dejado Meaning at a Cockpit	Dejado is the cockpit term for the bird expected to lose, the underdog set against the llamado, the favorite.
JILIWIN Kristo Sabong and the Hand Signals	The kristo is the floor name for the bet taker at a sabong, the licensed person who calls the sides and matches bets with hand signals.
JILIWIN Rooster Fight Rules Under PD 449	A rooster fight is lawful in the Philippines only in a licensed cockpit, on Sundays, legal holidays and local fiestas of up to three days under PD 449.

E-sabong operations have been suspended since 2022, and Executive Order No. 9, signed on 28 December 2022 by President Marcos Jr., continues that suspension nationwide. The gaff belongs to the licensed cockpit, and the rules around it are set out in the page on cockfighting legal rules. Here you get what the gaff is, who the gaffer is and what the licence involves.

Gaff cockfighting: what the gaff is

A gaff is the blade fitted to a gamecock’s leg for the bout. In Filipino the blade is the tari, and the person who fits it is the taga tari. PD 449 Section 4(d) puts the gaffer’s role in one line: a person knowledgeable in the art of arming fighting cocks with gaff or gaffs on either or both legs.

The decree does not set a blade size, and nothing on this page does either. Equipment conditions belong to the pit’s rules and to a derby’s published conditions. Three questions cover them:

Which conditions does the pit publish for gaffs?
Who checks the gaffing before a bout? Under Section 4(e) it is the referee.
Is the gaffer licensed for the year? Ask the organizer or the city or municipal hall.

Gaffer sabong: the licensed official

The gaffer is one of three licensed roles in a pit. The decree sets out all three side by side.

Role	Filipino term	What PD 449 Section 4 says
Gaffer	Taga tari	Arms fighting cocks with gaffs, on either or both legs
Referee	Sentenciador	Oversees proper gaffing, checks the cocks’ condition, announces the winner or a tie
Bet taker or promoter	Called the kristo on the floor	Calls and takes bets, pays winners after deducting a commission

The gaffer sabong role is therefore a regulated job, not an informal favor between owners. The referee watches the work, so the gaffer is not the only person responsible for how a bird is armed.

The gaffer’s licence step by step

PD 449 Section 7 sets the rule, and the steps below follow it:

The gaffer applies to the city or municipality where the cockfight is held.
The licence is renewable every year on the gaffer’s birth month.
The city or municipality may charge a tax of not more than twenty pesos.
Only licensed gaffers, referees, bet takers or promoters may officiate in any kind of cockfighting authorized under the decree.

An unlicensed person cannot lawfully arm a bird in an authorized fight. The decree gives no exception for a friendly bout.

Where the Games and Amusements Board comes in

For international derbies, GAB steps in. Its mandate page says the Board issues permits for international cockfight derbies, accredits cockpit officiating personnel and supervises the actual holding of the promotions. GAB’s citizen’s charter for cockfighting also describes the application for a professional licence: the applicant collects a form from the Professional Basketball and Other Pro-Games Division, submits it with the requirements, pays the licence fee at the Cashier Section and has an ID photo processed.

The details of fees and requirements sit in the charter, so read it at gab.gov.ph before you plan an application. The route runs:

Collect the application form and the list of requirements.
Submit the form with the documents.
Pay the licence fee at the Cashier Section.
Have the photo taken and the ID processed.
Receive the original official receipt and ID.

What happens when a gaffer breaks the decree

Section 8 puts the gaffer in the higher penalty band, together with the financer, owner, manager or operator of the cockpit, the referee and the bet taker.

Item	What the decree says
Imprisonment	Prision correccional in its maximum period
Fine	2,000 pesos
Insolvency	Subsidiary imprisonment
Side games	Section 5(f) bars other gambling in the pit, and allowing it lands in the same band

How the gaffer fits the rest of the pit

A bout moves through a fixed order of roles:

The bet taker, described in who the kristo is at a sabong, calls the sides.
The gaffer arms the birds.
The referee oversees the bout and announces the result.

A first-time visitor can follow the sequence using the rooster fight rules on venue and days, and the underdog and favorite words in dejado and llamado.

EO 9 Section 1 suspends live-streaming and online betting on live cockfights, and leaves licensed traditional cockfights outside the suspension. You must be 21 or older to take part in games of chance.

JILIWIN Gaff Cockfighting and the Gaffer's Role