Philippines senators said that there will be no revival of e-sabong, which is online betting for cockfighting.

According to Philippines news media, Senator Joel Villanueva said that e-sabong is “far worse than POGOs,” due to its direct impact on local Philippines’ people and community. He also stated that there had been 34 online cockfighting aficionados missing since 2022 and were believed to have been murdered.

“We have just defeated an enemy with the POGO ban, and now some are considering resurrecting e-sabong, which is far worse because it directly targets our ‘kababayans’ from all walks of life,” Villanueva said. 

“While we badly need revenues, the choice should not be between the devil and the deep blue sea. We want our revenues coming from legitimate, legal, and sustainable sources.

“No matter how you look at it, the social costs of gambling overshadow the intended benefits.”

Villanueva was one of the senators who staunchly opposed gambling in the Philippines. Prior to the POGO ban, he had pushed for a bill that would ban all forms of online gambling in the nation. 

Senator Imee Marcos agreed with Villanueva’s sentiments, opposing the revival of e-sabong.

“…E-sabong is gone. POGO is gone, and suddenly there’s remote sabong again. We need to stop this.” Senator Marcos said.

PAGCOR Chairperson Alejandro Tengco, however, believed that the agency could implement better e-sabong operations, recounting the initiative before it was banned during the Duterte administration. The initiative had generated over PHP6bn (US$0.11bn) in revenues a year.

PAGCOR also admitted that e-sabong continues despite the prohibition and that 789 e-sabong operations were still active, defying the ban.