‘Bato’ tweaks report after e-sabong is stopped (Sabong News)

THE chief Senate prober on the e-sabong controversy said the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs will still release a report even after President Duterte ordered a stop to all operations on online cockfight betting, a multibillion-peso trade. Senator Ronald dela Rosa said he will release the report this week. Meanwhile, Senator Francis Tolentino said a new law will still be needed before any decision is made to allow e-sabong to resume, if ever. This, as he reiterated his point during the hearings that the grant of licenses to the operators was illegal from the start, having been based merely on a legal opinion from the Department of Justice. For his part, Senator Christopher Go said Duterte’s decision was made after a very thorough study of the situation—the revenue considerations, as well as the social costs from gambling addiction and the rising crime related with it, as seen in the disappearance of 34 sabungeros. According to dela Rosa, he had to revise parts of the report after Duterte issued his order late Monday night. Initially, dela Rosa indicated committee probers are poised to recommend stricter e-sabong regulations limiting its operations only during Sunday and holidays, to end its current 24-hour and daily operations. But right now, the senator noted, there is nothing to regulate as President Duterte ordered its indefinite suspension—noting that such was the preference of the senators, as expressed in their unanimous call to the President in March. According to Tolentino, the Senate did “a good job” in investigating the controversial e-sabong operations, having discovered the bad effects of e-sabong on society and on the lives of those addicted to gambling, as well as the abduction of 34 sabungeros. Before President Duterte conveyed his order to stop e-sabong, senators have been seeking its suspension since March while investigating the apparent abductions of the still missing cockfight aficionados. Senator Tolentino asserted that the on-line e-sabong operations cannot just be resumed as the President himself gave the order to close it down. He suggests it will require an enabling legislation allowing the resumption of online sabong or e-sabong operations that President Duterte already shut down. Tolentino recalled that in its nearly two years of operation, e-sabong ran even without an enabling law, with only a legal opinion from the DOJ and the Solicitor General saying e-sabong can be regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Owing to the legal opinion that Tolentino tagged the original sin, Pagcor issued licenses to e-sabong operators and the  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas allowed digital wallets to be channels for bets on e-sabong. And, because such legal opinion was the only basis, no clear rules were laid down as to the collection of taxes. As a result, taxes on the winnings from e-sabong were not taxed since the trade began in the second quarter of 2020. Pagcor was only able to collect a measly regulatory fee of P12,500 for every sabong or “sultada.” The state gaming agency earlier told senators it drew a revenue share, however, of P600 million a month from the operators. The bills granting a legislative franchise as sought by e-sabong operators, are pending with the House and the Senate; and this is expected to be the main avenue for legalizing e-sabong. However, senators are not expected to act on this anytime soon, since majority of them had opposed e-sabong, and because the 18th Congress is set to close on June 4 anyway. Meanwhile, Senator Go said the President’s decision weighed heavily the  survey done by the Department of he Interior and Local Government submitted to the President. Duterte considered the social cost of e-sabong operations, especially the widening problem of people addicted to gambling, or even minors being able to place bets, Go revealed. The President, Go said, was appalled by the story of a Pasig City woman who sold her child for P45,000 to raise funds to repay gambling debts. Meanwhile, Go urged the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation to resolve immediately the cases of the 34 missing sabungeros. Image credits: