Burying e-sabong for good

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‘The Bangko Sentral, which has the authority over online payment firms, should order the removal of the virtual cockfighting features from the e-wallet services.’

PRESIDENT Duterte has made known his decision to scrap online “sabong” or e-sabong altogether, effective the evening of May 3. He said he acted on the recommendation of Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Although the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) said online sabong contributes P640 million to government coffers through fees collected by them, it was plain as day that they will have to comply with the President’s order.

While the government needs the money badly, the DILG secretary and the President have to bow to public opinion on the issue of online sabong which has already caused the disappearance of some 30 aficionados. Unknown to many, Duterte has ordered the DILG to conduct a survey on the social impact of e-sabong on Filipinos. This survey validated the public’s aversion to this newest technology-driven revival of an old gambling activity: 62 percent of the more than 8,000 respondents wanted to bury e-sabong for good; 34 percent said it could continue but under tighter regulation, and only 4 percent completely supported it.

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Despite the President’s order, operators of online sabong were adamant, and continued their operations with the barangay officials, mayors and the local police unable to enforce the Palace’s closure order.

To this, Sen. Francis Tolentino has a ready and fool-proof solution. Tolentino wants the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to order the removal of the online sabong feature from e-wallet applications such as PayMaya and G-Cash. The Bangko Sentral, which has the authority over online payment firms, should order the removal of the virtual cockfighting features from the e-wallet services.

Tolentino explained that since the questionable bases used by PAGCOR in regulating e-sabong – the two separate legal opinions issued by the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General, respectively – were already nullified following the issuance of a cease order by the President himself, there is no more reason for these e-wallet providers to maintain the virtual cockfighting feature from their respective mobile applications.

The senator noted that the reason e-sabong has proliferated and became a multi-billion industry is because the BSP recognized those licenses issued by PAGCOR to online sabong operators and allowed cockfight aficionados to place the bets through e-wallet services.

Tolentino stressed that removing the online sabong feature from e-wallet applications like G-Cash and PayMaya will avert possible illegal betting from unsanctioned cockfights.

The senator is correct. Operators have used the latest e-wallet payment system to their advantage, growing the e-sabong business from zero to a multi-billion-peso enterprise. Let the same financial technology innovation become the final nail to seal its coffin.

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