President Rodrigo Duterte stated on Thursday that the disappearance of people involved in e-sabong should be blamed on evil men doing something illegal, not on online cockfighting organizations.
Duterte defended e-sabong and the P640 million in monthly earnings it generates.
“It’s not the fault of the management… it’s the fault of evil men doing something wrong tapos nagkaupakan. Iba ang kultura ng mga sabungero at mga sindikato. Nagkabukuhan lang sila eh,” Duterte said at the inauguration of the new Leyte provincial capitol in Palo.
(The culture among cockfighting enthusiasts and syndicates is different. They just found out things about one another.)
“Ang problema pinatay lahat. Thirty-eight? Thirty-six? Kasama sila sa pustahan e. Sa iba-ibang probinsya para hindi mahalata. Pupusta sa llamado o dehado depende sa usapan,” the President said in a mix of Bisaya and Tagalog.
(The problem is they killed everyone. Thirty-eight? Thirty-six? They’re involved in the betting. They do so in different provinces so as not to be noticed. They bet on favorites and longshots, depending on their agreements.)
If the e-sabong operations are shut down, Duterte claims the government will lose billions of pesos in revenue.
He stated that it was up to the police to end the crimes.
Duterte defends e-sabong and its P640 million monthly revenue
“Let the police solve the problem. Wala na tayong pera, naubos sa COVID. P640 million a month iyan, ilan ang puwedeng mabigyan ng medisina?” he added.
(We have no more money. It ran out due to the COVID-19 pandemic response. That’s P640 million a month, how many can be given medicine for that amount.)
Due to the government’s billions of dollars in revenue from online cockfight betting, Duterte previously stated that he does not want it to be shut down.
He claimed that even if he ordered the closure of e-sabong, it would continue to operate illegally.
The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs said it would ask Duterte to order the suspension of online cockfighting companies’ licenses until the cases of the missing cockfighting fans were handled.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were also directed by the Palace to investigate the case of the missing sabungeros and provide a report within 30 days.
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