ALTHOUGH e-sabong has been banned, they continue to thrive not only in the Philippines but also throughout the country. This was revealed by Deputy Speaker David Suarez during the House committee on appropriations hearing on the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) budget today.
“E-sabong is still proliferating and from the numbers that I received, they are operating worldwide,” Suarez said. Furthermore, illegal e-sabong operators are allegedly deceiving bettors by showing old cockfights.
In 2022, former president Rodrigo Duterte banned e-sabong operations because many lives were reportedly ruined by this form of gambling, which was done online.
Aside from this, even minors are getting involved in this gambling, which is why it was completely banned.
However, despite this, Suarez said that many are still engaging in guerrilla-like operations.
Meanwhile, betting on the lotto remains sluggish.
During the hearing, PCSO stated that they earned P15.2 billion from lotto ticket sales from January to June of this year. Out of this amount, P14.7 billion was sold in lotto outlets while only P506 million was bet online. This indicates that the public is still not fully embracing online betting for the lotto, but Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo instructed PCSO to ensure that no minors are betting on the lotto through the internet.”
