Duterte doesn't want Congress to make hasty decisions on e-Sabong—Andanar (Sabong News)
Author
Argyll Cyrus Geducos
Date
MARCH 17 2022
Malacañang explained that President Duterte only wanted Congress to be cautious before deciding on suspending the operations of e-Sabong (electronic or online cockfighting), reminding them that the activity helps keep the economy afloat amid the pandemic and successive oil price hikes.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made the statement after
due to the billions of pesos that the government is getting from them.
In his press briefing, Andanar said Duterte only meant for Congress to not make hasty decisions on the matter.
“Ang ibig sabihin po ng Presidente ay huwag magpadalus-dalos sa pagsuspinde nang hindi napag-aaralan ng kabuuan (What the President meant was they should not be hasty in suspending it without studying the entire thing),” he said.
Andanar cited the statement of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairperson Andrea Domingo about the contribution of e-Sabong operations to the economy.
“[Malaki] ang kinikita ng e-Sabong at ang naitutulong nito sa ekonomiya (E-Sabong is earning and contributing a lot to the economy) and this has to be factored in as well,” he said.
On Wednesday, Domingo said they tallied P3.69 billion in total income from eight e-Sabong licensees from April to December 2021.
She added that they had collected P1.37 billion from the operations of seven licensees from January to March 15, 2022, alone.
President Duterte said he still is against gambling in general but insisted that the government is only after the money.
“Ang interes lang ng gobyerno is iyong pera (The government is only after the money). That is all there is to it,” he said.
Calls to suspend the operations of e-Sabong came following the disappearance of 34 individuals involved in the activity based on Senate data.
Last week, President Duterte gave the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
.
On Wednesday, Duterte lamented the disappearance of the sabongeros (cockfighters) but said it would be better to leave the matter to the authorities.
