President directs nationwide suspension of e-sabong

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the suspension of e-sabong operations nationwide, a directive announced on his Talk to the People program aired on May 3, 2022 and implemented by the Department of the Interior and Local Government through the Philippine National Police and local government units¹. The DILG said it would carry out the order immediately¹.

Duterte said he accepted the recommendation of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, who cited a validation report and a nationwide survey³. The DILG survey ran from April 19 to 20, 2022 and drew 8,463 respondents in every city and municipality, described as agents, employees, bettors or players, plus non-participants related to or acquainted with them¹. Of those surveyed, 62% wanted e-sabong stopped, 34% wanted it continued under tighter regulation and 4% fully supported it¹. Reasons given for opposing it included gambling addiction, bankruptcy of players, indebtedness, cost to family, neglect of work and studies, and crime¹.

The DILG said traditional physical sabong would continue under minimum public health standards as regulated by LGUs¹. PAGCOR's regulatory framework defined e-sabong as "an online, remote, or off-site wagering or betting on live cockfighting matches, events, and/or activities streamed or broadcasted live from cockpit arena/s licensed or authorized by the LGUs having jurisdiction thereof"¹. As of March 8, 2022, six companies had been authorized by PAGCOR to run e-sabong operations starting in April 2021¹. PAGCOR chairperson Andrea Domingo had earlier cited the industry's earnings of at least P640 million monthly since January³. DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said 31 e-sabong cockfighters had disappeared over nearly a year, and that while PAGCOR rules allowed only those 21 and above to play, people aged 20 and below were able to bet because of lax registration¹. Rappler reported that 34 persons involved in e-sabong had been reported missing as of March 2022 Senate data³.

On May 27, 2022, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Memorandum Circular 2022-026 directed bank-supervised financial institutions to deal only with gambling or online gaming businesses authorized by the government, and told them to inform clients with funds in e-sabong accounts to move the money back to e-wallets within 30 days, after which links to e-sabong accounts and merchant operator accounts would be disabled². Año said this meant operators or bettors who went underground could not bet through GCash and PayMaya². The DILG also asked Meta to block seven Facebook pages, groups and accounts identified by the PNP Anti-Cyber Crime Group as catering to illegal e-sabong².

What it means for players

E-sabong betting in the Philippines has been suspended since May 3, 2022, and the suspension was continued under Executive Order No. 9 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on December 28, 2022 and released on December 29⁴. That order covers livestreaming or broadcasting of cockfights outside cockpits and arenas, and online, remote or off-cockpit wagering on live cockfights, regardless of where the betting platform is located⁴. Traditional cockfights authorized or licensed under existing laws are not covered⁴. Because e-wallet links to e-sabong accounts were disabled, funds held in those accounts had to be moved back to e-wallets within 30 days of the May 27, 2022 circular². The DILG has said the PNP is directed to act against violators under the rule of law⁵.

What happens next

The DILG has renewed calls to LGUs to keep monitoring betting stations and cockpit arenas for e-sabong activity and to coordinate with PAGCOR and the PNP on compliance⁵. Under EO No. 9, PAGCOR was ordered to coordinate with LGUs, other agencies and the private sector to implement the suspension, with the interior department and PNP providing support and regular reports to the President⁴. No date has been reported for when the suspension might be lifted.