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No to e-sabong revival – solons
By Nidz Godino
“We have just defeated enemy with POGO ban, and now some are considering resurrecting e-sabong, far worse because it directly targets our kababayans from all walks of life,while we badly need revenues, choice should not be between devil and deep blue sea…we want our revenues coming from legitimate, legal, and sustainable sources,” Sen. Joel Villanueva saying e-sabong is worse than Philippine offshore gaming operators, senators are opposing proposals to revive online cockfighting to make up for forgone revenues due to ban on POGOs.
Villanueva said e-sabong is far worse than POGOs, as it directly targets all kinds of Filipinos, and with 34 online cockfighting aficionados missing since 2022 and believed to have been murdered.
Villanueva earlier filed Senate Bill 1281, seeking to prohibit all forms of online gambling in the country, as Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) officials raised possibility of implementing better e-sabong or online sabong operations.
“No matter how you look at it, social costs of gambling overshadow intended benefits,” he said.
Sen. Imee Marcos has opposed .. proposed revival of online cockfighting. “I was really surprised. E-sabong is gone. Pogo is gone, and suddenly there’s remote sabong again…we need to stop this.”
During public hearing at House of Representatives, PAGCOR chairperson Al Tengco believes agency can implement better e-sabong operations,initiative generated over P6 billion in revenues a year before it was banned during Duterte administration.
Tengco made response after Agusan del Sur Rep. Alfelito Bascug asked him in hearing if , PAGCOR is still considering reviving e-sabong after it was stopped, until better set of framework and regulations are formulated.
Senate committee on public order investigated case of 34 missing sabungeros in 2022, but failed to establish their whereabouts.
Villanueva also called on law enforcement agencies, including Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, to apply the same rigorous measures against e-sabong as they have with POGOs to prevent its resurgence.
Even during height of their operations, senator said POGOs did not prove to be viable solution to government’s revenue needs, as collections accounted for only small portion of taxes.
Similarly, prior to e-sabong ban in May 2022, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reminded operators to pay their tax obligations after Senate inquiry found them earning billions from online “talpak” or betting.
BIR and PAGCOR also failed to withhold 20 percent tax from winnings of online sabong operators since virtual cockfighting began in 2020.
In separate Senate hearing in February 2024, PAGCOR admitted e-sabong continues despite prohibition. It was also found during hearing that 789 e-sabong operations are still active, defying ban.
“Similar to POGOs, e-sabong has brought social costs – worse, it destroys Filipino families, plunges individuals into severe debt, and even forces some to commit theft and crimes to fund their gambling habits,we cannot simply turn blind eye to suffering of our people who have become victims of pitfalls of gambling….money should not be our only consideration; welfare of our people must come first,” Villanueva said.
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