Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa expressed dismay over President Rodrigo Duterte’s rejection to suspend e-sabong.
Dela Rosa, chairperson of the Senate public order committee, is leading an investigation into the disappearance of 34 cockpit afficionados. However, Dela Rosa said he respects Duterte’s Malacanang’s decision.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has underscored the authority of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to motu propio act on the recommendation of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.
Sotto said the charter creating Pagcor allows it to initiate actions against gaming industry players which are under investigation by the agency or other investigative bodies, or those which have been found to be violating existing laws.
Sotto said the Pagcor could put on hold the operation of e-sabong while the issue is still being investigated by the Senate panel and while lawmakers and the executive come up with measures to plug the loopholes in the management of online cockfighting.
Dela Rosa’s committee has already held two hearings on the issue, and it was during the first hearing that the Senate issued a resolution urging Pagcor to suspend e-sabong operations, which a representative from the agency supported.
Sotto stressed what the Senate was asking was a mere suspension of e-sabong licenses, not their revocation.
“I am disappointed because Pagcor even raised the issue to the President. So, what was their recommendation? Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said they are waiting for Pagcor’s recommendation and the Senate resolution.”
But based on its charter, Pagcor can suspend the licenses or operations of e-sabong operators on its own. The mere fact that it brought up the matter to the President indicates that Pagcor does not want to suspend e-sabong),” Sotto said.
Presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson agreed with Sotto that Pagcor does not need to wait for Malacañang’s approval before it suspends the licenses of e-sabong operators.
Sotto and Lacson made their remarks after Malacañang turned down a recommendation by the Senate to temporarily suspend the licenses of e-sabong operators while the cases of 34 missing sabungeros or cockfighters have not been resolved.
Sotto said it was obvious why Pagcor was going soft on the e-sabong issue – the business rakes in an estimated P640 million a month to the agency’s earnings.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday defended the opinion issued by the Department of Justice on the regulation by the Philippine Gaming Corporation over the operation of “e-sabong” saying it is based on “the interpretation of PAGCOR charter, which is an act of the legislature.”
“On the other hand, the OSG’s (Office of the Solicitor General) opinion was apparently based on the inadequacy of gaming authority on the part of LGUs (local government units), considering the online nature of e-sabong operations,” Guevarra stressed.
“If the Congress believes that a clear and unequivocal congressional authority is needed for the licensing of ‘e-sabong,’ then Congress should act expeditiously. From a policy viewpoint, the regulation of ‘e-sabong,’ whether through congressional franchises or by authority of executive agencies, is far better than ‘e-sabong’ being totally unregulated,” he said.
Guevarra’s comment came after pro-administration Sen. Francis Tolentino accused the DOJ and the OSG, an agency attached to the DOJ, of violating the law for usurping the legislative powers of Congress in allowing agencies like PAGCOR to give franchises.
Tolentino issued the statement amid ongoing Senate investigation over the missing “sabungeros.”
PAGCOR’s original charter was Presidential Decree No. 18609 which had been amended by Republic Act No. 9487 which granted the agency the authority to operate and license gambling casinos, gaming clubs, and other similar recreation or amusement places and gaming pools.
On the missing “sabungeros,” Malacanang issued a memorandum last March 8 which ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate the disappearances of the “sabungeros” and submit its findings in 30 days upon receiving the order.
Prior to the issuance of the memorandum, the Justice Secretary already issued a directive last month to the NBI to probe the disappearances.
Under Department Order No. 042 dated Feb. 17, Guevarra told the NBI “to investigate the reported abduction and disappearance of ‘sabungeros’ (cockers/cockfighting aficionados) in various places during the past few weeks and, if evidence warrants, to file the appropriate charges against all persons involved and found responsible for any unlawful act in connection therewith.”
Guevarra also instructed NBI Officer-in-Charge Director Eric B. Distor “to submit reports on the progress of the subject investigation directly to the Office of the Secretary.”
