The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has expressed reservations about the Senate’s decision to suspend the licenses of “e-sabong” companies in the wake of cockfighting fans’ disappearances, citing billions of pesos in lost revenue and the possibility of legal action from stakeholders.
PAGCOR chairperson Andrea Domingo said during the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs’ second hearing on the cases of missing “sabungeros” that while they want to solve the case, suspending e-sabong is not an “easy thing to do because it has a very strong effect on revenue generation.”
Domingo said the average monthly revenue from e-sabong will be roughly P400 million from May to December 2021. Since January of this year, she claims it has increased to P640 million every month.
“In PAGCOR, therefore, we stand to the peril of having to pay P640 million pesos a month while we suspend the operations without a clear and legal basis,” Domingo said.
“We are all emotional here. I do condole with everybody who suffered from this but we also have to look into the repercussions of this, with this loss of revenues committed by us — because when you urge us, you actually give us the responsibility of using our own discretion to implement the sense of the Senate. So, therefore, in the final analysis, it would be PAGCOR who would be responsible for the decision,” she added.