President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday threatened anew to suspend e-sabong and forego billions of pesos in revenue from the online gambling platform if the illegal activities linked to it are proven.
“Where can I find P640 million a month? This is why I allowed it. The problem is like this: I have heard that these bettors are already pawning things in order to make a bet. That is what the outsider sources said,” Duterte said in his speech during the groundbreaking of a center for overseas Filipino workers in Las Piñas City.
“If it’s true, I’ll stop it, you can be sure of that. Before I go, I’ll stop it if it’s true. I have to sacrifice… the billions that we would have earned if it was operating,” he added.
This is the second time in as many weeks that Duterte threatened to suspend the franchises of e-sabong operators.
Last week, the President said he would not hesitate to halt the operations of e-sabong, if the issues concerning the betting game became “very serious.”
He admonished policemen to do their job to “solve the crimes” related to online cockfighting, including the case of over 30 sabungeros who went missing since last year.
“They mention so many personalities there and all are capable of doing it because they have a criminal mind,” he said.
