Duterte defends anew decision against e-sabong suspension (Sabong News)
Author
Kristina Maralit
Date
MARCH 30 2022
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte defended his decision against suspending online cockfighting, or e-sabong, saying that the government benefits from income it generates.
""E-sabong is legal. When we allow a gambling, it's legal. Baka nagdududa kayo bakit hindi ko hininto. Hindi ko ho hininto kasi kailangan ng pera sa e-sabong ng gobyerno (You might have doubts on why I didn't stop it. I didn't stop it because the government needs the money from e-sabong)," the Chief Executive said during his weekly 'Talk to the People' public briefing late Tuesday night.
According to him, the government earns around P640 million a month in revenues from online cockfighting and that "in a year's time, it's a billion plus".
"Saan tayo maghanap ng pera ng ganoon na kadali na sigurado (Where will we find sure money that easily)?" stated the President.
The Senate had issued a resolution urging the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to temporarily halt e-sabong operations because of the still unsolved disappearances of 31 cockfighting aficionados.
Malacañang, however, issued a circular ruling that "the operations of e-sabong licensees shall remain unaffected, pending the result of the investigations" of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP).
