Senator Joel Villanueva on Sunday strongly rejected proposals to revive online cockfighting or e-sabong ostensibly to replace loss revenues due to the total ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
Conceding that the government badly needs revenues, Villanueva said the choice should not be “between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
"We want our revenues coming from legitimate, legal, and sustainable sources,” he stressed.
“We have just defeated an enemy with the POGO ban, but reviving the e-sabong is far worse because it directly targets our people from all walks of life,” Villanueva noted.
The senator earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1281 seeking to prohibit all forms of online gambling in the country.
“No matter how you look at it, the social costs of gambling overshadow the intended benefits,” he said.
Even during the height of their operations, the senator said POGOs did not prove to be a viable solution to the government’s revenue needs, as collections accounted for only a small portion of taxes.
Similarly, he said prior to the e-sabong ban in May 2022, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reminded operators to pay their tax obligations after a Senate inquiry found them earning billions from the online gaming.
The BIR and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) also failed to withhold the 20-percent tax from the winnings of online sabong operators since virtual cockfighting began in 2020.
In a separate Senate hearing last February, PAGCOR admitted that e-sabong continues despite the prohibition.
It was also discovered that during the hearing that at least 789 e-sabong operations were still active, defying the ban.
Villanueva further called on law enforcement agencies, including the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), to apply the same rigorous measures against e-sabong as they have with POGOs to prevent its resurgence.
“Similar to POGOs, e-sabong has brought social costs—worse, it destroys Filipino families, plunges individuals into severe debt, and even forces some to commit theft and crimes to fund their gambling habits,” Villanueva said, adding that the fate of some 30 missing cockfighting enthusiasts (sabungeros), some of whom hailed from Bulacan, remained unknown to date.
“We cannot simply turn a blind eye to the suffering of our people who have become victims of the pitfalls of gambling. Money should not be our only consideration; the welfare of our people must come first,” Villanueva said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Villanueva slams proposals to revive online sabong”
