MANILA, Philippines ? Watchmen of the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City, caused a stir among shoppers Tuesday when they prevented three animal rights activists, including a man in a chicken costume, from protesting the holding of a four-day international cockfighting derby that opened Tuesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

?Get away from here. You have no permit. What you?re doing is wrong,? one of the guards told members of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

At least three other guards accosted the protesters and grabbed their placards which read ?Small men hurt little birds. Ban cockfighting!? in Filipino.

The guards then dragged the demonstrators out of the commercial center while others tried to prevent the media from taking pictures of the incident.

After 10 minutes, the Peta members, including the man in the chicken costume, decided to leave the area.

A guard who declined to give his name told reporters that the rally was illegal because was held within private property.

?They did not have any permit from the management. They don?t have any right to hold their rally here,? he said.

Francis Anthony Reganit, Peta campaigner, said the protest was part of their crusade to outlaw cockfighting in the country.

He added that they intentionally launched the campaign at the start of the ?World Slasher Cup,? said to be the biggest cockfighting event in the world, to educate sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados) and the public that ?it?s wrong for people to treat roosters and other animals as toys.?

?Animals are not ours to use for entertainment. It?s simply wrong for people to use roosters and other animals for violent games like cockfighting,? Reganit told the Inquirer.

According to him, known breeders of fighting cocks even import champion breeds from the US, Mexico and other countries.

?Sadly, the government tolerated this because the local economy earns billions of pesos from cockfighting,? Reganit said.

The Peta campaigner said cockfighting only sends wrong signals to the youth.

?Cockfighting teaches kids not only to engage in gambling. It also teaches them to be violent and cruel to animals,? he said.

Jennilyn Tagasa, another Peta campaigner, assailed game fowl breeders who, she said, claim that cockfighting is part of the Filipino culture.

No excuse

?Cruelty is not an excuse for tradition. They force animals to fight against each other,? she said.

The Inquirer tried to get inside the coliseum to get the reaction of organizers of the cockfighting derby, but was refused entry by security personnel.

In its website, Peta said the Philippines is among the few nations in the world which have yet to outlaw cockfighting.

It said that in the US, only the state of Louisiana allows cockfights.