Why cockfighting in the Philippines and bull fighting in Mexico & Spain? Where are the animal rights activists

and why aren't they on the job in these bloodthirsty countries?

As far as i know, there are no animal rights activists in the Philippines.

The answers are tied to understanding the DEEP SEEDED CULTURE behind each subject. The countries of Spain, Mexico, and the Philippines are not blood thirsty. Their cultures are very different, different histories on each subject that go back centuries. Bullfighting actually goes back to the Greeks....read on to understand why these things are endured today and even embraced. Personally I loathe seeing any animal hurt. Tough subjects. I hope the below information helps build understanding however.

COCKFIGHTING is so central to Philippine culture that Rolando Blanco, vice president of the country's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has little hope of persuading the government to stop it.

"How can we fight cockfighting when our lawmakers are cock fighters and breeders?" he asked.
Supporters of a ban acknowledge that fighting cocks' killer instinct is encoded in their genes, but argue that nature is more forgiving than cockfight organizers, who arm the roosters with razors and make sure they can't escape the ring. Chickens don't win much sympathy in the Philippines.

"Our laws protecting animals mainly concern endangered species and bigger animals, like dogs, cats, horses, whale sharks and monkey-eating eagles," Blanco said.

Filipinos were staging cockfights when Ferdinand Magellan came ashore in 1521, and more than 5 million roosters will clash in the country's cockpits this year, said Manny Berbano, publisher of the glossy Pit Games magazine and head of National Gamefowl Training Center.

BULLFIGHTING Origins and History of Bullfighting
Bullfighting is certainly one of the best-known-although at the same time most controversial-Spanish popular customs. This Fiesta could not exist without the toro bravo, a species of bull of an ancient race that is only conserved in Spain. Formerly this bull's forebears, the primitive urus, were spread out over wide areas of the world. Many civilizations revered them; the bull cults on the Greek island of Crete are very well known. The Bible tells of sacrifices of bulls in honour of divine justice.

Bulls also played an important role in the religious ceremonies of the Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistoric times. The origins of the plaza de toros (bullring) are probably not the Roman amphitheatres but rather the Celtic-Iberian temples where those ceremonies were held. Near Numancia in the province of Soria one of them has survived, and it is supposed that bulls were sacrificed to the gods there.

While religious bull cults go back to Iberians, it was Greek and Roman influences that converted it into a spectacle. During the Middle Ages it was a diversion for the aristocracy to torear on horseback-a style known as suerte de ca帽as.
In the 18th century this tradition was more or less abandoned and the poorer population invented bullfighting on foot. Francisco Romero was a key figure in laying down the rules for the new sport..

Fortunately the Animal "Rights" folks have not made it to Mexico in any great numbers. A lot of Animal Welfare people are quietly working to improve the lot of companion animals in Mexico.

IN MEXICO BULLFIGHT IS A TRADITION, ITS THEIR CULTURE, THEY TEACH THE CULTURE SINCE CHILHOOD, THEY ARE CALLED TOROS DE LIDIA, ESPECIAL FOR BULL FIGHTS, THE ANIMAL ACTIVIST IN MEXICO WERE THOWN OUT, OUTSIDE THE PLAZA. OK. SO COCKFIGHT ALSO IS A BIG THING IN MEX. IT IS CALLED PALENQUE, AND THE BETS ARE VERY HIGH, YOU MAY SAY WHAT YOU WANT, BUT THE BULLS AND THE COCKFIGHTS GIVE PEOPLE JOBS, AND FOOD, ONE BULL WILL FEED A FAMILY OF 20, UNCLES, PARENTS, CHILDREN GRAND CHILDREN SO DONT JUDGE A TRADITION. EVEN IF WE DONT LIKE IT, WE CRITIZE EVERYBODY, BUT WHEN IT COME BACK TO US WE GET UPSET, SO LETS BE MORE TOLERANT WITH OUR NIEGHBORS. SORRY IF IM BEING HARSH