Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
“This consuming cancer”, wrote Governor-General Camba of gambling in the preamble to an edict dated 7 March 1838, “that destroys the fortune of many families, encourages sloth, hinders the sources of public wealth, perverts good faith, corrupts the people's morals and leads them to degradation and misery. Unfortunately the vice has spread prolifically in this rich soil”. Spanish authorities held gambling to be both morally reprehensible and economically detrimental, yet official recognition was extended to an activity that could not be eradicated and from which the colonial state derived considerable financial benefit. The definition of criminality in respect to gambling, therefore, became dependent on the inability of the state to enforce its own regulations and the exigencies of financial demands. This article will examine the popularity of cockfighting and other forms of gambling in the Philippines, the extent of official ambivalence towards these sports, and the motives behind colonial policy. In the process, Gusfield's concept of the “moral passage”, whereby once tolerated behaviour is redefined as deviant and treated as criminal, will be shown to have application in reverse. Gambling was progressively legalized during the late 18th and 19th centuries as the state profited from such activities.
1 “Bando of Governor-General D. Andres Garcia Camba”, Manila, 7 March 1838, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7. Gambling included not only the cockpit and games of chance but also the lottery, horse racing and bull-fighting. A lottery was established in Manila by the royal decree of 29 January 1850 and was operated by a government office known as the loterίa nacional; draws were monthly and tickets were sold in Manila, the provinces, Hongkong, Amoy, Shanghai, Singapore and Calcutta. Horse racing was introduced in 1868 with the creation of the Manila Jockey Club and races were held at the Santa Mesa Hippodrome. The sport was very popular among all sectors of the population who bet heavily with the totalisador in units of five Mexican pesos. Bull-fighting was introduced into the Philippines during the early 17th century but never achieved much widespread popularity. Zaide, Gregorio, Manila during the Revolutionary Period (Manila: National Historical Commission, 1973), pp. 22–24Google Scholar. A contemporary 19th century account observed: “The bullfights here are parodies of those in Spain. The matadors are non-commissioned officers and they scuffle with rotten, worn-out bulls”. Goncharov, Ivan, The Voyage of the Frigate Pallada (London: The Folio Society, 1965), p. 255Google Scholar.
2 Gusfield, Joseph, “Moral Passage: The Symbolic Process in Public Designations of Deviance”, Social Problems 15 (1976): 175–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3 Pigafetta, Antonio, “Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mondo”, MS. circa 1525 in Blair, H.M. and Robertson, J.A. (eds.), The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898, vol. 33 (Mandaluyong: Cachos Hermanos Inc., 1973), p. 211Google Scholar.
4 Zaide, , Manila, p.21Google Scholar and Artigas, Manuel y Cuerva, , Historia De Filipinas (Manila: Imprenta De Pilarca, 1916), p. 374Google Scholar.
5 Item 103 of the ordinances establishing the real audiencia in Manila refers to fines being levied on those apprehended gambling. Felipe Il, , “Foundations of the Audiencia of Manila”, Aranjuez, 5 05 1583 in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 5, p. 305Google Scholar. See also: de Morga, Antonio, “Report of Conditions in the Philippines”, Manila, 8 06 1598 in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 10, pp. 86, 91 and 92Google Scholar.
6 Vila, José et al. , “Condition of the Islands, 1701”, Manila, 7 10 1701 in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 44, pp. 134–35Google Scholar.
7 Raon, José, “Ordinances of Good Government”, Manila, 26 02 1768 in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 50, pp. 242–43, ordinance 49Google Scholar.
8 John White, U.S.N., “Manila in 1819”, Historical Bulletin 6 (1962): 108Google Scholar.
9 Sinibaldo de Mas observed how cabezas de barangay played the card game of panguingui at all times of the day and night, gambling away the tributes of their vassals until they had no further recourse but face imprisonment or take to the hills. de Mas, Sinibaldo y Sans, , Estado De Las Islas Filipinas En 1842, vol. 1 (Madrid: Imprenta De L. Sancha, 1843), “Poblacion”, p. 71Google Scholar.
10 “Superior Bando de 10 de Octubre de 1812 que trata de la prohibicion de los juegos prohibidos, 1812”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
11 Eusebio Escobido, Alcalde Mayor of Tondo to the Governor-General, Santa Cruz, 3 March 1841, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
12 “Corredores, Incendiarios, Juegos, Policia y Vagos. Bando de 24 de Abril del Sor. Itazquino, hacienda ver la pena en que incurren los incendiarios, e imponiendo castigo a los que se dedican a juegos de trucos en dias de trabajo con otras medias de policia y buen gobierno, 1792”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
13 Women represented only 10 per cent of police arrests for gambling in a six-week period between May and July 1881 with women constituting 34 out of 348 arrestees. “Relacion de las personas aprehendidas en juegos prohibidos durante el mes de Mayo á fin de Agosto inclusive que se inserta en la Gaceta con espresion de sus nombres, empleos y penas que han sufrido con arreglo al Reglamento de juegos”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881, pp. 136–37, 144–45 and 212–13Google Scholar. The figures are from 1–26 May and from 23 June to end of first week in July. According to a newspaper account four women were arrested in Binondo and six in Tondo for playing panguingui outside of the permitted hours on Saturday, 20 September 1891. “Sucesos”, El Comercio, 22 September 1891. Antonio de Morga commented that card games were the chief diversion of women during the late 16th century, an observation confirmed by Leroy in the late 19th century. See: de Morga, Antonio, “Report of Conditions in the Philippines”, Manila, 8 06 1598, in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 10, p. 91Google Scholar and Leroy, James A., The Philippines Circa 1900 (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1968), p. 31Google Scholar. Children, however, were forbidden entrance to cockpits. Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 376Google Scholar.
14 The group comprised five individuals including one Spaniard, one Chinese and two mestizos. “Autorización de juegos para una fiesta”, 1887, PNA, Juegos Prohibidos, Reel 38.
15 There were 348 arrests for gambling during this period. “Relacion de las personas aprehendidas en juegos prohibidos durante el mes de Mayo á fin de Agosto inclusive que se inserta en la Gaceta con espresion de sus nombres, empleos y penas que han sufrido con arreglo al Reglamento de juegos”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881, pp. 136–37, 144–45 and 212–13Google Scholar. The figures are from 1–26 May and from 23 June to end of first week in July.
16 Occupational categorization was adapted from the classification formulated by Martha Huggins for her study of crime in Brazil during a similar period. Huggins, Martha Knisely, From Slavery to Vagrancy in Brazil. Crime and Social Control in the Third World (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1985), pp. 91–93Google Scholar.
17 The occupational groups include the following occupations: ARTISAN: barber, blacksmith, carpenter, cobbler, mason, seamstress, silversmith, stonecutter, tailor, weaver; DAYWORKERS; NONDOMESTIC SERVICE: boatman, carrier, coachman, messenger, milkman, ox driver, packer, wagoner, water carrier; BUSINESS & CLERICAL: agent, book-keeper, clerk, commercial traveller, hay seller, merchant, patron, rent collector, scribe, shopkeeper, trader; MANUAL (NON ARTISAN): brazier, cigar worker, fisherman, hemp worker, painter, sapper, sawyer, slaughterer, stoker; DOMESTIC SERVICE: cook, laundryman, servant, washerwoman; AGRICULTURAL WORKER: hare catcher, rice grower, wood cutter.
18 An edict of 1812 required judges to forward the names of military personnel found gambling within the capital to the captain-general. “Superior Bando de 10 de Octubre de 1812 que trata de la prohibicion de los juegos prohibidos, 1812”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
19 “Bando of Governor-General D. Andres Garcia Camba”, Manila, 7 March 1838, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7. Such measures, however, often proved impractical to enforce. In the same year as Camba's edict, a commanding officer had to petition the captain-general on behalf of a trooper apprehended gambling but unable to raise the sum required to pay the fine. The officer suggested that one-third of the soldier's pay should be docked until the full amount was paid. Seccion de Guerra to Captain-General, Manila, 27 November 1838, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
20 “Oficio del Governador de Cavite, dando parte de haver sorprendido en aquel Puerto una Casa de juego de Monte, y pide se declare la multa que cada jugador debe de pagar”, Cavite, 22 September 1834, PNA, Cavite, unreferenced.
21 A measure of the passion for gambling in the Philippines can be gauged from a comparison of the revenue derived from cock-fighting in New Spain. In 1810 the respective colonial exchequers derived 40,141 pesos from the sport in the Philippines and 45,000 pesos from New Spain, a country with over twice the population. See: de Comyn, Tomas, The State of the Philippines in 1810 (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1969; originally published in 1820), p. 77 and footnote 19Google Scholar.
22 “Malversacion”, PNA, Asuntos Criminales, Binondo 1858–1968Google Scholar. The testimony of Miguel Ricafort provided just the type of evidence that many Spanish officials used to support their contention that gambling was a major cause of crime in the city — encouraging robbery and theft and rewarding sloth and indolence. Men, women and even children, it was held, passed whole days and nights playing cards or attending cockfights with little thought as to how to support themselves or earn a living bar reliance on the whims of chance. Alcalde Ordinario to Governor-General, Manila, 25 January 1839, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
23 Sources: (a) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en dicho mes de Marzo por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 6 06 1880Google Scholar; (b) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en Abril, por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881, p. 74Google Scholar; (c) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en Junio, por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881, p.86Google Scholar; (d) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en Julio, por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881, p. 358Google Scholar; (e) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en Agosto, por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881Google Scholar; (f) “Estado que reasume las aprehensiones hechas en Septiembre, por todos los puestos de la Guardia Civil Veterana”, Gaceta de Manila, 07-12 1881Google Scholar. A plausible explanation of the irregularity in the monthly arrest rates between districts and even within the same district was that the police had insufficient personnel to maintain their vigilance in all areas of the capital at once, but instead had to rely on mounting periodic campaigns in specific localities. Just such a crack down may have been launched in Tondo and Central Manila during March 1880, again in Central Manila in June 1881 and in East Manila during September 1881.
24 The Tagalog provinces accounted for 82 per cent of official receipts from cockpits in 1810. de Comyn, Tomas, The State, pp. 76–77Google Scholar. The provincial receipts for 1810 amounted to: 33,081 pesos in the Tagalog provinces (Tondo 18,501 pesos, Bulacan 6,400 pesos, Cavite 2,225 pesos, Laguna 2,005 pesos, Batangas 2,000 pesos, Bataan 1,050 pesos and Tayabas 400 pesos) and 7,060 pesos in the non-Tagalog provinces (Pampanga 3,000 pesos, lloilo 1,600 pesos, Pangasinan 1,200 pesos, Ilocos 600 pesos, Cebu 360 pesos and Albay 300 pesos). No tax was imposed in other provinces. Artigas y Cuerva, however, claimed that the revenue for 1813 amounted to only 16,000 pesos. Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 376Google Scholar.
25 Marche, Alfred, Luzon and Palawan (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1970), p. 83Google Scholar.
26 de Mas, Sinibaldo, “State of the Philippines in 1842”, in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 40, pp. 203–204, footnote 143Google Scholar.
27 Buzeta, Manuel, Diccionario Geográfico, Estadístico, Histórico De Las Islas Filipinas, vol. 1, p. 250Google Scholar. Care even extended to the wounded victor of a fight, whose injuries were lovingly attended to by its owner with an infusion of tobacco leaves dipped in fermented coconut wine or placed in special establishments given over to their treatment. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 251.
28 de Mas, Sinibaldo, “State of the Philippines in 1842”, in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 40, p. 203, footnote 143Google Scholar.
29 See especially: de la Gironiere, Paul, Twenty Years In Philippines (London: Green and Longmans, 1853), pp. 35 and 101–102Google Scholar; Goncharov, , Voyage, pp. 201–204Google Scholar; Marche, , Luzon, pp. 83–84Google Scholar; Marryat, Frank S., “Borneo And The Archipelago”, Travel Accounts Of The Islands 1832–1858 (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1974; originally published 1848), p. 133Google Scholar; de Mas, Sinibaldo, “State of the Philippines in 1842”, in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 40, pp. 203–204, footnote 143Google Scholar; von Scherzer, Karl, “Narrative Of The Circumnavigation Of The Globe By The Austrian Frigate Novard”, Travel Accounts Of The Islands, 1832–1858 (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1974; originally published 1862), p. 239Google Scholar; and Wilkes, Charles, “Narrative Of The U.S. Exploring Expedition”, Travel Accounts Of The Islands, 1832–1858 (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1974), p. 43Google Scholar.
30 Goncharov, , Voyage, p. 201Google Scholar.
31 Buzeta, , Diccionario, vol. 1, p. 251Google Scholar.
32 Karl von Scherzer, “Narrative”, p. 239.
33 Charles Wilkes, “Narrative”, p. 43.
34 Rizal, Jose, Noli Me Tangere (Manila: Phil-Asian Book Co., 1967), pp. 292–93Google Scholar.
35 Birds who refused to fight were plucked alive and placed at the entrance to the cockpit. Buzeta, , Diccionario, vol. 1, pp. 250–51Google Scholar.
36 Marche, , Luzon, p. 84Google Scholar.
37 Paired birds were always of different colours, white against black or yellow. The little cocks bred in Laguna province known as labuyos were famous for their courage and savagery and great favourites with the crowds. Buzeta, , Diccionario, vol. 1, p. 251Google Scholar. Most fighting birds, however, were bred to be large and heavy. Wilkes, “Narrative”, p. 43.
38 Sinibaldo de Mas, “State of the Philippines”, vol. 40, pp. 203–204, footnote 143.
39 Goncharov, , Voyage, p. 201Google Scholar.
40 Ibid., p. 255 & Gironiere, , Twenty Years, p. 35Google Scholar. Gironiere, however, has a reputation for exaggeration.
41 Rizal, , Noli Me Tangere, p. 294Google Scholar.
42 Goncharov, , Voyage, pp. 202–203Google Scholar.
43 For a more comprehensive discussion of the rules pertaining to cockfighting in the late 18th and 19th centuries, especially the proposals of José Manuel Aguirre Miramon, see: Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, pp. 374–76Google Scholar. Also see: de Viana, Francisco Leandro, “Financial affairs of the islands”, 10 07 1766 in Blair, and Robertson, (eds.), Philippine Islands, vol. 50, pp.108–109Google Scholar; Palma, Rafael, Historia De Filipinas (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1972), vol. 2, pp. 389–90Google Scholar; “Gallos. Bando del Señor Basco de 18 de Diciembre, poniendo el ramo de Gallos por Administratión en las conco provincias de Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna y Cavite, 1784”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 10; and “Gallos. Instrucciones de 27 de Marzo para el asiento del ramo de Gallos, 1799”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 10.
44 Zaide, , Manila, p. 21Google Scholar. The first contract for collecting government revenues from cockfights held in Tondo, Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna and Pampanga was farmed out to a certain Agustin Zanoli in 1788 for a payment of 6,000 pesos a year. However, receipts did not fulfill expectations due to the number of fights held at non-licensed premises and the contractor was forced to appeal to the government for stricter enforcement of the regulations. See: Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 375Google Scholar. Article 6 of the amendments to the regulations regarding cockfighting in the five provinces admitted the number of contraband holders of fights: “has come to outnumber the entire forces of the custom officials”. See: “Gallos. Instrucciones de 27 de Marzo para el asiento del ramo de Gallos, 1799”, article 6. Illegal fights were often held in fields outside a village or town. A certain Severino Magat was arrested in April 1888 carrying a dead cock which, on interrogation, he confessed to having bought from a group of peasants holding a clandestine cockfight in a neighbouring town. In this case, the police were still in time to surprise the gamesters who took flight abandoning six roosters and a piece of sailcloth. “Por jugadores”, El Comercio, 8 04 1888Google Scholar.
45 Miranda, Claudio R., Costumbres Populares (Manila: Imprenta “Cultura Filipina”, 1911), p. 83Google Scholar.
46 Popular belief had it that the most efficacious poison involved disinterring a recently buried Chinaman, heating a gaff until it was red hot and then immediately inserting the blade into the guts of the corpse and leaving it there for a few minutes. A cock injured with such a blade was said to be “useless, if not dead”. Ibid., p. 84.
47 Cuningham, Charles Henry, The Audiencia In The Spanish Colonies As Illustrated By The Audiencia Of Manila (1583–1800) (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1919), p. 166, footnote 16Google Scholar.
48 “Gallos.Bando del Señor Basco de 18 de Diciembre, poniendo el ramo de Gallos por Administración en las conco provincias de Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna y Cavite, 1784”.
49 Rizal, , Noli Me Tangere, p. 295Google Scholar.
50 Juan Antonio de Uruñuela, Juan Baptista Bonilla and Felix Quijadoto Simon de Anda, Manila, 20 March 1776, PNA, Bandos y Circulares, Bundle 1.
51 “Mas robos y timos”, El Comercio, 9 07 1890Google Scholar.
52 Berriz, Miguel Rodriguez, Diccionario De La Administración De Filipinos. Anuario De 1889 (Manila: Imprenta Y Litografia De M. Perez, 1889), p. 528Google Scholar.
53 Circular de la Fiscalía del Tribuno Supremo, 14 October 1889.
54 The major reform to the regulations governing games of chance was effected in “Bando of Governor-General D. Andres Garcia Camba”, Manila, 7 March 1838, and its subsequent modification in a further bando dated Manila, 5 February 1840, PNA, Bandos y Circulares, 1840–49, Bundle 11. An equivalent reform to cockfighting was affected by the passing into law by the royal order of 21 May 1861 of the proposals submitted by the Oidor José Manuel Aguirre Miramon after his extensive investigation into the sport during 1859.
55 The particular laws and articles in question include: law 15, title 23, book 12 of the Novisima Recopilación; article 260 of the Penal Code of 1848; article 267 of the amendments to that Code in 1850; and article 358 of the amendments to that Code in 1870. See: Berriz, , Diccionario, p. 528Google Scholar.
56 Ibid., p. 528.
57 “Consulta de 12 de marzo de 1839 de los Alcaldes Ordinarios”, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7.
58 “Memorial of the Audiencia of Manila”, Manila, 6 08 1842, PNA, Spanish Manila, Reel 7Google Scholar.
59 “Bando of Governor-General D. Andres Garcia Camba”, Manila, 7 March 1838. Article 11 deals with the financial responsibility of fathers, guardians and masters.
60 “Sobre juego”, El Comercio, 15 11 1889Google Scholar.
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62 “It would not be just … if a light sentence is unduly imposed on a player, instead of the much more serious one that the offence deserves”. “Contra el Juego”, El Comercio, 29 05 1888Google Scholar. Interestingly, a memorial dictated by the real audiencia in 1842 credited municipal officials with zealously carrying out their duties and placed the blame on the leniency with which judges of the courts of first instance treated such offences. “Memorial of the Audiencia of Manila”.
63 John White U.S.N., “Manila”, p. 108. The selling of liquor at cockpits was prohibited under article 13 of the regulations of 1799 on penalty of one month imprisonment and a fine of 100 pesos. “Gallos. Instrucciones de 27 de Marzo para el asiento del ramo de Gallos”, PNA.
64 Marryat, “Borneo”, p. 133.
65 “Oficio del Governador de Cavite, dando parte de haver sorprendido en aquel Puerto una Casa de juego de Monte, y pide se declare la multa que cada jugador debe de pagar”, Cavite.
66 Article 6 of the regulations of 1838 declared null and void all gambling debts and obligations in excess of 50 pesos. “Bando of Governor-General D. Andres Garcia Camba”, Manila, 7 March 1838.
67 Montero, José y Vidal, , Historia General De Filipinas Desde El Descubrimiento De Dichas Islas Hasta Nueslros Días (Madrid: Imprenta Y Fundación De Manuel Tello, 1895), vol. 3, p. 69Google Scholar.
68 “Sobre molestacíon de licitas casas de juego”, Manila, 1894, PNA, Juegos Prohibidos, Reel 38Google Scholar. The judge ruled that such establishments should not be hampered in the exercise of their rights within just limits.
69 “Testimonio Deducido del Espediente instruido en este Juzgado en aberiguacion de las causas que han motivado la falta de cumplimiento de la sentencia firme recaida en la Causa instruida contra los paisanos Leon Layson y otros por atentado a una pareja del veinte un tercio de la Guardia Civil, al sorprender un juego prohibido”, Manila, 26 10 1892, PNA, Guardia Civil, 1868–98Google Scholar.
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71 On the effect of the independence of Latin America on Spain, see: Carr, Raymond, Spain 1808–1975 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), pp. 92–105 and 129–46Google Scholar.
72 Robles, Eliodoro, The Philippines In The Nineteenth Century (Quezon City: Malaya Books, 1969), pp. 54–59Google Scholar.
73 Sources: (a) de Comyn, Tomas, The State, pp. 53 and 77Google Scholar (Artigas y Cuerva calculated revenues at only 6,000 pesos in 1788 and 16,000 pesos in 1813. Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 375Google Scholar); (b) Sinibaldo de Mas, “State of the Philippines in 1842”, pp. 203–204, footnote-143 and “Direct and Indirect Taxes”, in Estado De Las Islas Filipinas En 1842 (Madrid: Imprenta De L. Sancha, 1843), vol. 2, p. 30Google Scholar; (c) Goncharov, , Voyage, p. 204Google Scholar; (d) Robles, , The Philippines, pp. 162 and 254Google Scholar; (e) Jagor, Feodor, Reisen in den Philippinen (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873), p. 22Google Scholar; (f) Sancianco, Gregorio y Goson, , The Progress Of The Philippines, Economic Part (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1976), p. 14Google Scholar; (g) Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 376Google Scholar.
74 Leroy, , The Philippines, p. 44Google Scholar. The revenue from cockpits amounted to just under 1 per cent of the colonial budget for 1880–81 of 14,630,486 pesos, while the government lottery accounted for a further 6 percent of the total. These figures, however, should be compared with the income derived from the tobacco monopoly that alone accounted for 45 per cent of revenue. Sancianco, y Goson, , The Progress, pp. 14–15Google Scholar. The projected deficit for the 1880–81 budget was 5,846,712.01 pesos.
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77 President Aguinaldo blamed cockfighting for the ruinous plight of provincial towns. Artigas, y Cuerva, , Historia, p. 376Google Scholar.