Duterte Orders End of E-Sabong

President Rodrigo Duterte declared that he is ending the operations of the cockfighting activity, e-sabong because of its impact on Filipinos.

The announcement was made in his recorded “Talk to the People” address that aired on May 3. 

According to DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya ,

“[Duterte] was concerned about the lost revenue from e-sabong but when we saw that the public was very worried about this and that the public was concerned about the social cost, I think that tipped his decision to suspending the operations of e-sabong,”. 

The decision was made based on the survey conducted by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano when he was instructed by Duterte to get the public’s opinion about the gambling activity.

The data from the survey conducted from April 19 to 20 with 8,400 respondents shows that 62% of the public is not in favor of e-sabong.

They were against gambling activity because it can lead to addiction, bankruptcy, separation from family, and neglect of employment or school, among other things.

Earlier this year, senators proposed to suspend the operations of e-sabong amid the 34 missing sabungeros but were rejected.

Instead, the Malacañang ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate and e-sabong was allowed to continue its operations.

A day after the announcement, continued e-sabong operations is now illegal and violators will face legal charges according to DILG.

Meanwhile, traditional or face-to-face cockfights will be allowed to continue under Alert Level 1.

Source: Philippine Star