PAGCOR chief: E-sabong operations continue despite ban

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said on Tuesday that online sabong operations continue despite the ban put in place by the previous administration.

Tengco made the admission at a Senate hearing when asked if PAGCOR has plans to revive e-sabong.

"As of now, I think there is an ongoing study, primarily because, despite the ban that was made, if I'm not mistaken, sometime in May of 2022, e-sabong continues—I mean, candidly speaking, e-sabong still continues to proliferate," Tengco said.

"E-sabong is ongoing, and unfortunately, it is not being regulated...the sad part is that today, the government is not getting a centavo," he added.

PAGCOR generated close to P6.5 billion in license fees in 2021, when the agency was still regulating e-sabong, Tengco said.

"Whether it will be revived, I don’t want to second guess, Mr. Chairman, but I believe that, again, this is a major problem of regulating the said e-sabong because, as mentioned, during the time that it was ongoing and being regulated by PAGCOR, PAGCOR gained close to six and a half billion, and today not a single peso is generated," he said.

"I think there might be some variations in the regulations that can be studied, but then again, I do not want to preempt whatever decision whoever will make on the matter. But honestly, within PAGCOR, we're not studying it at this very moment," he added.

In May 2022, then-President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an end to e-sabong operations due to its social costs.

E-sabong hit the headlines in 2022 following the disappearance of dozens of people involved in the industry. The cases of missing sabungeros have yet to be resolved two years later. —VBL, GMA Integrated News