By Wilnard Bacelonia
MANILA – The Senate Committee on Games and Amusement said Wednesday that physical “studio” hubs of illegal online sabong should get raided and cases built against alleged gambling kingpins, instead of just taking down websites.
During the panel’s third public hearing, committee chair Senator Erwin Tulfo said authorities must shut down the cockpits and makeshift backyard setups where cockfights are filmed and streamed online, particularly in parts of Central Luzon, the Cordillera region, and Calabarzon.
“Online sabong po na ito, this is already a problem… The only way to take this down po, is, puntahan po ninyo ‘yung mga bayan kung saan may sabungan, may nagpapasabong (Online sabong is already a problem… The only way to take this down is to go to the towns where there are cockpits and ongoing cockfights),” he said.
Tulfo said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should issue directives to raid identified locations, stop live filming operations, confiscate equipment, and submit a compliance report to the committee before it convenes a technical working group.
He said merely blocking websites is insufficient because the source of the streamed fights remains operational.
Senator Raffy Tulfo pressed authorities to go after alleged financiers and so-called gambling kingpins, saying enforcement appears focused on small operators while large-scale figures remain untouched.
“Yes, may na-down kayong e-sabong sites, kaso ‘yun yung mga pipitsugin… pero itong pinakamalaki sa buong Pilipinas ay hindi niyo kayang i-takedown (Yes, you have taken down some e-sabong sites, but those are small-time operators… yet you cannot take down the biggest one in the country),” he said.
He questioned why intelligence information pointing to continued large-scale operations in Central Luzon has not resulted in arrests and urged law enforcement to file appropriate criminal cases against those behind the networks.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Alejandro Tengco reiterated that Executive Order 9, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., remains in effect and prohibits the issuance of licenses for online sabong.
“Ang EO No. 9 po ay pangkasalukuyan isang batas… wala po kaming karapatang mag-issue ng anumang uri ng lisensya sa kanino man (EO No. 9 is currently in effect as a law… we have no authority to issue any kind of license to anyone),” Tengco said.
PNP and NBI officials signified compliance with the committee’s call for immediate action.
The panel said it expects concrete enforcement results, including the closure of identified filming hubs and the filing of cases against operators and financiers, before proceeding with further legislative measures. (PNA)
