Senate probers of e-sabong (Sabong News)

ON a motion of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, senators probing the mysterious disappearance of 31 “sabungeros” (cockfight workers and bettors) on Thursday decided to craft a Senate resolution urging the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to suspend licenses of all seven E-Sabong outfits until a “satisfactory” conclusion to the apparent abductions is reached. At the hearing called by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs presided by Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, senators took turns grilling resource persons from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Pagcor as parents of the missing men and one woman pleaded for the return of their loved ones, who were seized in several incidents since early January. De la Rosa, a former PNP chief before his election to the Senate, said police probers are likely looking at a syndicated case, saying it is “impossible that 31 are missing and only one did it.” He and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, himself a former PNP chief, questioned at length current PNP head Gen. Dionardo Carlos, who led investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in updating senators on what has happened to the multi-province probe, one of the biggest the police has done in years. The abductions were reported in Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas and Laguna. Senate President Sotto III moved for the investigating committee to issue a Resolution asking the state gaming agency to suspend all seven E-sabong licenses issued by Pagcor “until we find a satisfactory solution to this case.” In turn, De la Rosa also moved for the “suspension of e-sabong “until the case is cleared,” noting that Pagcor has “no objection to suspend” as proposed by the lawmakers. Lacson asked De la Rosa if the suspension of the E-sabong operations of the seven Pagcor-licensed outfits will not open an opportunity for so-called “colorum” operators to continue to ply their trade. Dela Rosa affirmed Lacson’s presumption that, in the absence of the licensed operators, the “colorum” entities will not be able to carry out their nefarious activities because they will not have anything to hack. At the same time, Sen. Francis Tolentino said they will also ask popular payments platform G-cash to remove e-sabong from transactions allowed on its platform. Acknowledging the senators’ efforts, parents vowed to cooperate with probers looking into the case. This, after providing senators tearful recollections of their last contact with their relatives and their desperate efforts to find them. For her part, Sen. Senator Pia Cayetano credited De la Rosa for taking time to call the hearing, recalling that Sen. Joel Villanueva had mentioned that “we already know that so many problems are associated with e-sabong and gambling. And online gambling makes it even easier. So he mentioned broken families, affected families, suicides, we all know that. I don’t even have to repeat it.” Moreover, she cited a recent news report that “even some cops are robbing gas stations to either pay their gambling debts or to gamble more. So it’s really terrible and it is very clear that this is a social illness. So we have options.” In his opening remarks at the start of the hearing, Senator Villanueva observed it was not the first time, citing the abduction of at least 29 [since adjusted to 31] people, “hailing from Manila, Laguna, and even my home province of Bulacan because of their involvement in gambling activities.” Villanueva recalled seeing grim CCTV footage showing how a resident of San Pablo, Laguna was arrested by men posing as NBI agents.”The victim was reported to be a master agent of online sabong and was accused of game fixing,” the senator said. Villanueva, who is against gambling, said the vice  is in contradiction with “Filipino values. How can we teach our youth to be industrious and to take their study seriously if gambling is rampant or by giving them the false hopes that the “game of chance” can actually improve lives?” he asked. He recalled  that recently, a 19-year-old student in Davao de Oro was arrested by the police after failing to pay more than P500,000 in bet money for online sabong. “Other students,” he noted, “have resorted to stealing from their parents to play,” while a Quezon City police officer robbed an LBC branch in San Miguel, Bulacan. He noted an article by Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, citing the circumstances of several of our OFWs who placed bets online with payments done electronically. She stated that Labor Attaché Resty dela Fuente flagged online gambling as an emerging concern among OFWs.