President Rodrigo Duterte has said he may be forced to order the suspension of e-sabong (online cockfighting) operations if the situation gets out of hand.
Duterte made the statement in a speech delivered Thursday evening in Lapu-Lapu City, as he noted more Filipinos getting addicted to online cockfighting.
He said he would not hesitate to halt the operations of e-song, if the issues concerning the betting game became “very serious.”
“Just study if it is true or not. It’s getting to be a very serious problem for the Filipino people,” Duterte said.
This as he lamented that online cockfighting lured many Filipino families, as well as police officers and minors.
Duterte, however, said the possible suspension of e-sabong operations could not be done in haste because the government was earning millions of pesos from the gaming industry.
“Congressmen want to stop the operations of e-sabong. Why would I order its suspension? The e-sabong is giving us P640 million a month,” he said.
“We are short of funds, that’s why I allow the continuation of its operations.”
The disappearance of over 30 cockfight aficionados prompted lawmakers to conduct an inquiry and urged Duterte to stop the operations of e-sabong.
Last month, Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos urged all unit commanders to inspect the gadgets of their subordinates to determine the policemen hooked on online cockfighting.
At least three cops tagged in e-sabong abductions are now under restrictive custody at the headquarters of the Police Regional Office-Calabarzon and are set to face charges in the coming days.
To promote “transparency” in e-sabong, Duterte earlier asked Congress to regulate the operations of the betting game by issuing a legislative franchise.