Emergence of new websites hampers campaign vs e-sabong - PNP-ACG

The Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group said on Saturday that one reason e-sabong is still thriving is because operators continue to launch new websites even after the government shuts down the others.

“The challenge for the ACG is that when we start taking down one website, they simply create another one,” PNP-ACG spokesperson Police Captain Michelle Sabino told GMA News Online.

Further, e-sabong illustrates the tendency of some Filipinos to rely on betting to make quick money, she said. 

“Marami sa ating mga kababayan ang mahilig sa mabilisang paraan para magkaroon ng pera the soonest possible time na hindi na nag re-require ng hard labor. They believe in luck and games of chance,” she said.

(Many of our countrymen prefer ways that don't require hard labor to earn money as fast as possible. They believe in luck and games of chance.)

Sabino added that Filipinos’ love for sabong or cockfighting, had its roots in the Spanish era.

“Naging mas convenient lang ngayon kase ‘di na nila need magpunta sa arena and yet kaya nila magsugal anywhere simply by using their mobile phones,” she said.

(It just became more convenient now because they no longer need to go to the arena, and they can gamble anywhere simply by using their mobile phones.)

Earlier this month, 23 individuals were arrested, including a councilor, due to e-sabong in different parts of Bulacan.

The PNP previously reported that a total of 1,245 individuals have been arrested over e-sabong or online cockfighting from July 1, 2022, to August 15, 2023.

In May 2022, then-President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to stop e-sabong.

Duterte’s decision came following a survey conducted by the DILG in cities and provinces regarding e-sabong operations, which is being blamed for the deterioration of the moral values of some Filipinos.  —VBL, GMA Integrated News