Presidential candidate Leni Robredo said e-sabong or online cockfighting operations should be suspended as soon as possible amid reports of a number of its patrons going bankrupt and living dangerously.
Robredo cited reports of sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados) getting kidnapped or committing suicide, children getting hooked into gambling, family conflicts, and OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) wasting away their savings, among others problems, due to unpaid debt.
“I believe this (e-sabong) should be stopped as soon as possible. We should likewise investigate if we will continue this. Are there enough safeguards to prevent what is happening right now,” she said during a One News and Go Negosyo forum.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said cockfight operations is a source of revenue for the government.
“E-sabong gives the government P644 million a month. In one year, it gives the government billions,” Duterte said.
“Now, the cockfighting enthusiasts who disappeared actually sabotaged the cockfights. They will either maim the gamefowls or soak them, then the next day enter it into a fight, it will shiver, chickens also get flu. That’s the reason behind their disappearance,” he said.
The President said temporarily closing down the businesses of operators without any violations would be unfair.
“Let the police solve the problem [disappearance],” he said.
Robredo, however, argued that huge government revenues would not be worth it to compensate for broken lives and not families.
“The most important thing here is that we should take care of our people, not only concerning morality but their welfare as well,” she added.