A gaming technology executive has proposed closer coordination between the government and e-sabong operators to help the industry grow.
Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Joe Pisano said his company is willing to work with lawmakers to help address concerns on e-sabong.
“We’re happy to work with the lawmakers. I believe there’s a lot we can contribute to help form regulations and to help drive away the illegal [operators],” Pisano said.
“At the moment, the government’s losing, the community is losing, and it’s something we can address together to help build the industry. The Philippines is the hub for gaming now. Nothing makes us happier than to work with the regulators to help grow the e-sabong industry,” he added.
Pisano said e-sabong can be a good source of income for the government as it has an entire ecosystem of industries that support it.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte said in March the e-sabong industry provides the government with about P640 million per month on revenue alone.
It generated a total of P2.03 billion in the first half of the year.
Pisano said e-sabong should be treated as any other sport as it has its set of rules and mechanisms in place.
He said industries that invested heavily in the three-year license given to e-sabong operators were forced to cut down manpower due to the loss of revenue, and have no means to recover.
His company, Jade, has been forced to cut its more than 200 staff to just 30 due to the ban on e-sabong.
“Since the operations have been reduced, we have only operated for about five months…We have taken a lot of losses. We just can’t sustain them with our operations,” said Pisano.