Those who continue to engage in “e-sabong,” or online cockfighting, notwithstanding President Rodrigo Duterte’s order, may be jailed, despite the lack of implementation rules and regulations (IRR), according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.
When asked about those seeking the IRR of Duterte’s order in a Dobol B TV interview, Año responded, “Wala namang sophistication diyan sa utos ng Pangulo. ‘Pag sinabi ng Chief Executive na hindi na pupuwede ito, at ito naman ay ayon sa kapangyarihan ng ating Pangulo, ipatutupad natin yan.”
“‘Pag sinabing stop, stop na ‘yan. Wala nang mga anumang technicalities o anumang justifications. Ganun lang siya kasimple. Kung hindi ka susunod, eh di mananagot ka sa batas at expect mo na magkakaron tayo ng mga pag-aresto diyan sa mga hindi susunod,” he added.
(There is no sophistication in the President’s order. ‘When the Chief Executive says that this is no longer possible, and this is according to the power of our President, we will implement that. When you say stop, stop that. No more technicalities or any justifications. It’s just that simple. If you don’t follow, you won’t be held accountable by the law, and you expect that we will have arrests for those who don’t follow.)
E-sabong violators will be arrested – Año
Duterte’s decision was based on a survey done by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on April 19 addressing the e-sabong operations, which are blamed for the decline in moral standards among many Filipinos, according to Año.
According to the poll results, 68 percent of respondents “highly disagree” that e-sabong assists them with their finances.
Meanwhile, 62% of respondents believed that e-sabong should be banned, 34% said it should be regulated, and 4% said it should be allowed to continue unregulated.
“‘Yung pinakamatindi dito ‘yung moral issues tulad ng addiction. Sobra talaga ‘pag nalulong sa e-sabong. Hahanap ng pera, ibebenta ‘yung bahay, lupa, kahit anong gamit,” Año said.
(The most severe problems here are moral issues such as addiction. It’s terrible when people get addicted to e-sabong as they will look for money and even sell their house, land, and anything else.)
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