VICE presidential candidate Sen. Francis Pangilinan has joined the call of fellow lawmakers to suspend “e-sabong” operations or online cockfighting until the case of the 31 missing persons is resolved.
Pangilinan, running mate of opposition presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo, signed Senate Resolution No. 996 through the recommendation of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.
“It’s shocking, saddening and revolting that some people are missing because of an online gambling scheme. It’s their families call that they be found at the soonest),” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
By virtue of the resolution, the senators called for the immediate suspension of the license to operate given by the Philippine Gaming and Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) to seven e-sabong operators.
During the Senate hearing last week, PAGCOR’s acting senior vice president Diane Erica Jogno expressed the agency’s willingness to suspend the operation of online cockfighting pending the investigation of the missing persons.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said a number of his colleagues want to take away from PAGCOR the authority to grant licenses to operate e-sabong and transfer it to Congress which will instead issue legislative franchises.
In a radio interview, Dela Rosa said his colleagues came up with the proposal so they can properly regulate the activities of e-sabong since Congress also has oversight powers on the online gaming through the Senate committee on games and amusement.
But presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson said giving said the Constitution allows the grant of legislative franchises only to companies engaged in public utilities like water, electricity, and airports.
“Is e-sabong public utility?” Lacson said in a press conference in Candelaria, Quezon.
Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III have been in Quezon province since Monday as part of their campaign sortie. The two are scheduled to woo voters in Camarines Norte today.
He said even Pagcor has a position paper saying that e-sabong cannot be classified as public utility, adding that even the Department of Justice cannot give a categorical answer as to whether e-sabong can be classified as such.
