Palace: E-sabong revenue loss can be filled (Sabong News)

MALACAÑANG is confident additional revenues could be found to replace the P5 billion to P6 billion to be lost from the banning of e-sabong (online cockfighting) activities. Acting Presidential spokesman Martin M. Andanar said they expect the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to offset the revenue gap. “As to the other sources of income, we are confident Pagcor has the ability to generate new revenues,” Andanar said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday. Late Tuesday, President Duterte decided to stop e-sabong operations nationwide, citing the results of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the social cost of gambling in some local government units (LGU). Duterte said the ban will take effect once he comes out with the issuance for its implementation. As of May 4, 2022, Andanar said the Malacañang Record Office still has no copy of the said issuance. In a television interview on Wednesday, however, DILG spokesman Jonathan E. Malaya said they have already started implementing the policy based on the public statement of Duterte. Malaya said the ban could affect 5 million e-sabong players nationwide. Pagcor earlier said the ban will cost the government P5 billion to P6 billion. Malaya said they hope the affected players will just go back to traditional face-to-face cockfighting, which is held on definite schedules instead of the e-sabong, which is conducted 24 hours everyday. Former speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday reiterated his call for the complete banning of e-sabong and all other forms of internet gambling. Taguig Rep. Cayetano, in a statement, thanked Duterte for putting an end to e-sabong operations in the country, saying it was an affirmation of the Filipino values that keep the country strong. “The Bible says a man reaps what he sows. E-sabong may have been generating some income for the government, but the cost has been too heavy on the lives of the people,” he added. “We want to thank God for molding our nation. We want to thank the President for hearing the effect on the values of our next generation,” he said. The President also said e-sabong was “working against our values”—one of the main reasons Cayetano had been opposing it since September 2021 when the House of Representatives gave a franchise to the first e-sabong operator. Cayetano said, “President Duterte’s decision solidifies our position that e-sabong is harmful to the people and to the nation. What the government earns from these online gambling operations pales in comparison to the losses the people incur in terms of gambling debt, crime, the breakup of families, and much much more,” he added. He pointed to the rising number of crimes related to e-sabong, including the disappearance of 34 sabungeros early this year with some police officers allegedly involved. He also cited the cases of some police officers resorting to robbery and of a woman who sold her baby—all to pay off their gambling debt.