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'Working against our values:' Duterte orders 'end' of e-sabong operations

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<h3>PAGCOR says to implement order &#x27;immediately&#x27;</h3><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/afp/06/05/20200605-cockfighting-san-roque-afp-10087770.jpg" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/afp/06/05/20200605-cockfighting-san-roque-afp-10087770.jpg"/></figure></div>MANILA (2nd UPDATE)— President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he would order the immediate &quot;end&quot; of e-sabong due to its negative social impact on Filipinos. This came following a survey by the interior department, which Duterte said found that the gambling platform &quot;is working against our values&quot;, despite the billions of pesos in revenue that government collects from online sabong in a year.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/07/22/duterte-threatens-to-stop-e-sabong-operations">Duterte says to stop e-sabong if authorities link illegal activities to it</a></li></ul>&quot;Validated &#x27;yung naririnig ko... May naririnig na ako loud and very clear to me -- it is working against our values. &#x27;Yung impact sa pamilya at sa tao, ang labas, hindi na natutulog yung mga sabungero 24 hours,&quot; he said in his taped address aired on Tuesday. (What I heard was validated. I heard, this is loud and very clear to me, it is working against our values. In impacts the family and people, some sabungeros do not sleep for 24 hours.) &quot;The recommendation of [Interior] Secretary [Eduardo] Año is do away with e-sabong. He cited the validation report coming from all sources. It&#x27;s his recommendation and I agree with it. It is good. So e-sabong will end by tonight. Bukas, lalabas ito bukas,&quot; he added. (It will come out tomorrow.) Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman Andrea Domingo said no revenue will be collected from the gambling platform &quot;starting today&quot; as they would implement the President&#x27;s order immediately.&quot;The Executive Secretary will issue a formal memorandum to this effect and we will serve the appropriate notice to the PAGCOR regulated esabong operators,&quot; Domingo said in a statement.&quot;We will also inform the COA Auditor officially that starting today, there will no longer be revenues collected from esabong operations,&quot; she added.The President in earlier speeches <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/07/22/duterte-threatens-to-stop-e-sabong-operations">threatened to kill</a> online sabong franchises if authorities proved that it caused social problems, including gambling addiction and the disappearances cockfighting enthusiasts.At least 30 sabungeros have gone missing. Duterte had <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/17/22/duterte-blames-evil-men-for-missing-sabungeros">blamed &quot;evil men&quot;</a> for their disappearance.The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it has charged 8 cops for their alleged involvement in e-sabong.Police will coordinate with PAGCOR to close e-sabong betting stations and prevent &quot;chaos&quot;, said PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo. &quot;We&#x27;ll just wait for the official communication kung paano ba natin isasagawa yung pag-i-inspect at pagmo-monitor kung mayroon pa pong mga existing e-sabong operations,&quot; she said in public briefing. (We&#x27;ll just wait for the official communication on how we will inspect and monitor existing e-sabong operations.) <div>DILG: REGULATIONS NEEDED</div>Of 8,463 people polled last April by the interior department, it said 62 percent of respondents wanted e-sabong to stop due to &quot;addiction to gambling, bankruptcy of players, indebtedness, cost to family, neglect of work and studies, and crime.&quot; &quot;Government policies must take heed of the pulse of the people. This decision [to stop e-sabong] is rooted in a survey reflecting the sentiment of the people. Hindi ito bara-bara na desisyon (this was not a rushed decision),&quot; Año said in a statement. He said his agency recommended suspending e-sabong &quot;until a better set of framework and regulations are formulated, in such a way that it will not significantly harm any of the stakeholders and and lead to the moral decay of society.&quot; Año said traditional physical sabong will continue to operate, with compliance to health standards. &#x27;ABOUT TIME&#x27;The Senate earlier passed a resolution urging the suspension of e-sabong. Sen. Grace Poe said lives and family ties were at stake as e-sabong addictions continued to grow.&quot;Sumasang-ayon tayo sa pagpapatigil ng e-sabong habang patuloy ang mga pag-aaral ng masamang epekto na dulot nito,&quot; she said. (We agree with the suspension of e-sabong while studies on its bad effects continue.)Senate President Vicente Sotto III said of Duterte&#x27;s decision, &quot;It&#x27;s about time. Napakinggan din ang [resolution] ng Senado.&quot; (The resolution of the Senate was heard.) &quot;The 24 senators were never wrong in supporting the Senate resolution urging PAGCOR to stop the operations of esabong. I have no further recommendations to the President,&quot; added Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, a former police chief. Sen. Koko Pimentel said authorities should finish their probe and findings on the disappearance of sabungeros should be released immediately. &quot;Dapat pag-usapan nang mabuti, kung ano ba talaga ang mga epekto ng legalization ng mga iba’t ibang uri ng sugal tulad ng e-sabong. Wag madaliin. Mas mabuti siguro ipadesisyon na ito sa bagong papasok ng Kongreso,&quot; he added. (This should be discussed thoroughly, what is the effect of the legalization of various forms of gambling like e-sabong. Do not rush this. Perhaps it will be better for the incoming Congress to decide.) Duterte previously <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/16/22/sayang-duterte-rejects-e-sabong-suspension-cites-billions-in-revenue">rejected</a> calls to end e-sabong operations, citing at least P300 million in government revenue generated monthly.The PAGCOR said it earned P3.7 billion from e-sabong from April to December 2021, and at least P1.4 billion in the first 3 months of this year. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2021565" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div style="text-align:center">Video from PTV</div>

This came following the DILG's survey, which he said found that the gambling platform 'is working against our values.'

'Working against our values:' Duterte orders 'end' of e-sabong operations

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'Working against our values:' Duterte orders 'end' of e-sabong operations

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 03, 2022 09:56 AM PHT

|

Updated May 03, 2022 05:39 PM PHT

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DILG

e-sabong

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Duterte ends e-sabong operations

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