PNP hands DICT, NTC list of e-sabong sites to be shut down

The Philippine National Police (PNP) asked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to take down several e-sabong websites, its spokesperson said Tuesday.

“May mga isinubmit na po tayo na mga website… ng mga account sites po sa DICT pati na rin po sa NTC dahil sila lang po ang may authority para ma i-take down po itong na monitor natin,” PNP spokesman Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said in the public briefing.

(We have submitted websites… account sites to the DICT and the NTC because they have the authority to take down the websites that we monitored.)

According to Fajardo, the PNP also conducted police operations, particularly in Cebu, against e-sabong operations.

“May mga nahuli po tayo na mga indibidwal na engaged po sa illegal e-sabong activities. Pati na rin po ‘yung kanilang ginagamit na mga equipment ay na kompiska po natin,” she said.

(We also arrested some individuals engaged in illegal e-sabong activities. We also confiscated the equipment they were using.)

“At mag tutuloy tuloy po ito bilang bahagi po ng ating intensified campaign against proliferation ng e-sabong activities po,” she added.

(We will continue this as part of our intensified campaign against the proliferation of e-sabong activities.)

In December 2022, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ordered the continued suspension of e-sabong operations nationwide, saying the state is obligated to protect public health and morals, and to promote public safety and the general welfare.

The order suspends live-streaming or broadcasting of live cockfights outside cockpits or cockfighting arenas or premises where cockfights are being held.

The EO also suspends online/remote, or off-cockpit wagering/betting on live cockfighting matches and/or activities streamed or broadcast live, regardless of the location of the betting platform. — DVM, GMA Integrated News