Sun.Star: Negros folk bet as high as P50,000 on spider derbies

The "lowly" spider derby, a supposedly harmless game, is becoming a threat to public morals in Negros Occidental as spectators are now placing bets of as high as P50,000. Sun Star Bacolod reported Tuesday night that the bets prompted police provincial director Sr. Supt. Rosendo Franco to warn residents against placing bets. Franco issued an order to all his chiefs of police in the province to take action against the rampant spider derbies anywhere now in Negros Occidental. "Spider derby is considered as another form of gambling that is also prohibited under the law. Anyone who will be caught holding such will also be arrested and fined," said Franco. He said youngsters and adults both in urban and rural areas roam around the cane fields before the sun sets just to look for spiders. In Cudangdang village in EB Magalona town alone, spiders are being sold from P20 to P100 each depending on color and size. Most of the buyers are from Bacolod City and Silay City who are looking for the "best" spiders they can use for a derby. In Aidsisa, Silay City, betting in a spider derby reaches to as much as P50,000. "It's like cockfighting," said one of the spider derby afficionados in Silay (name withheld) in an interview with Sun.Star-Bacolod. He said before they bring their spiders to a derby, they also make a lot of conditioning by giving them vitamins like dextrose fluid, or put them in a glass with pepper leaves or fruits. We also make casing with foam to give spiders the best comfort they needed, he added. Also, he said they are also looking for spiders who are usually living on electric wires. He said spiders that usually hang on electric wires are considered to be "brave" or "mighty". Spiders with a mark of a crown on their bodies are also perceived to be "warriors," he added. As to the mechanics of spider derby, he said, the one who will fall three times from a wooden stick that serves as their battle line will be automatically declared as looser. But most of all, the one who can wrap its enemy by its web will be declared champion. And like cockfighting, spider derby has also the so-called "agaw" and "biya" (advantage and disadvantage) in terms of betting, he said. - GMANews.TV