‘Vital witnesses’ expected to testify at second Senate e-sabong hearing (Sabong News)

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa on Thursday raised the possibility that  “vital witnesses” may appear and testify at Friday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs into the disappearance of 31 e-sabong (online cockfighting) individuals. Dela Rosa, committee chairman, aired the hope the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group  (PNP-CIDG) can track down vital witnesses in time to ensure their presence before the Senate panel’s scheduled hearing on March 4. In an interview with CNN Philippines, De la Rosa disclosed that Senate probers expect the appearance of a “vital witness,” said to be with the group of sabungeros , who was able to get out of the cockfighting arena after getting a discreet text message to immediately leave the area. The warning came from a companion in another group of sabungeros who were already being held in the arena. De la Rosa added: “ Tinawagan sila (very vital witness) nuong isang grupo na ‘sumibat na kayo, sumibat na kayo at na-hold kami dito.’ Noong sumibat na sila, ‘yung isang grupo, palabas sila doon sa compound ng arena, may na-hold pa na kasamahan doon sa pangalawang grupo. So mayroong nakasibat na miyembro ng grupo na ‘yun at ‘yun ngayon ang very vital witness natin sa kasong ito .” The senator said the committee expects the appearance of other resource persons whom he believed can help shed light on the cases when they appear before the panel at Friday’s hearing, including the security guards of the cockfighting arena that he deemed to be a “crime scene.” A former National Police chief, Dela Rosa had earlier conceded the possibility that rogue former uniformed men may be involved in seizing the missing persons, given the clockwork efficiency and modus operandi with which the abductions happened in batches – in Manila, Bulacan and in Southern Tagalog. On Wednesday, detained Sen. Leila de Lima, a former Justice secretary, said the Senate inquiry should be pursued to the very end given the strong possibility that some rogue policemen may be involved. Police and Senate probers are looking into various angles, including the possibility that rampant game fixing in e-sabong may have triggered reprisals from those who were scammed. Some relatives of the missing told senators, however, they sensed an eerie warning in a video showing gaming businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang warning fraudsters in the business – including parties involved in hacking the sites of licensed operators and setting up fake sites that lure bettors. A lawyer for Ang’s company said the video was a legitimate warning so the public would be alerted to the criminals riding on e-sabong. De la Rosa earlier indicated that the Office of the President and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) were already provided copies of the Senate resolution  calling for the suspension of e-sabong operations while the cases of the disappearance of 31 individuals have not yet been resolved. Senators agreed to craft the resolution at the first hearing, on a motion by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, asking Pagcor to suspend the operations of seven licensed operators until there is a  “satisfactory” solution to the cases of the missing persons. Pagcor, however, told the senators that while it did not object to their request, such suspension must be approved by the Office of the President. At the same time, Dela Rosa indicated he “got the impression” that President Duterte approved the suspension of e-sabong operations during their conversation last Sunday at the wedding of the Chief Executive’s grandson.  “I told him about the resolution that is being prepared by the Senate and he said that ‘sige, sige, sige, sige. ’ So, that means agreement or approval as far as I’m concerned,” Dela Rosa said. Senate Resolution No. 996, filed by 23 senators on Monday, expressed the “sense of the Senate” to strongly urge the Pagcor “to suspend the license to operate of e-sabong operators and to immediately stop all activities related to e-sabong until the cases of missing sabungeros are resolved.”  The licensed operators of e-sabong are Belvedere Vista Corporation, Lucky 8 Star Quest, Inc., Visayas Cockers Club, Inc., Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies, Inc., Newin Cockers Alliance Gaming Corporation, Philippine Cockfighting International Inc., and Golden Buzzer, Inc. Image credits: