E-Sabong To Continue As Palace Orders Probe On Missing Cockfighters; Senate Disappointed

President Duterte has ordered an investigation into the disappearance of at least 34 cockfight players and workers even as he allowed the continued operations of e-sabong.

In a memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on March 8, Duterte directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the case of the missing cockfight players or sabungeros and submit their findings to the Office of the President and Department of Justice within 30 days.

Duterte also instructed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to determine any violations of e-sabong licensees under their existing terms of agreement.

He ordered Pagcor to ensure compliance with the security and surveillance requirements under its regulatory framework for e-sabong off-cockpit betting stations, particularly the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems at gaming sites.

The President allowed the operations of e-sabong to continue pending results of the probe.

“Unless otherwise directed, the operations of e-sabong licensees will continue,” the order read.

Last month, senators adopted a resolution urging Duterte to suspend e-sabong operations until after the cases of the missing cockfight players and workers have been resolved.

The resolution was adopted at the first hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs. Some of the victims’ families linked the disappearance of their kin to online cockfight and game fixing.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, chairman of the committee, said he was able to secure a commitment from Duterte in a personal conversation that e-sabong operations would be suspended.

Pagcor chairman Andrea Domingo, however, told the Senate panel during a hearing last week that she was told by Medialdea that Duterte gave no such order.

Disappointed

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the upper chamber is disappointed with the continuous operation of e-sabong despite the clamor from the families of the 31 missing sabungeros.

But Sotto, who is running for vice president, pointed out that “the disappointment of the Senate cannot be compared to the disappointment of the families affected, not only those with missing relatives but also the families who are having problems with their family members addicted to e-sabong. It's a double disappointment for them.”

On Monday, Feb. 28, Sotto and 22 other senators signed Senate Resolution No. 966 expressing the sense of the Senate to strongly urge Pagcor to suspend the license to operate of e-sabong operators and to immediately stop all activities related to it until the cases of the 31 missing cockfighters are resolved.

But Sotto said that the hearings conducted by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa were not useless as the senators gathered information that could help shed light on the cases of the missing sabungeros.

The Senate President, who initiated the move for the suspension of the e-sabong operations amid the series of disappearances of sabungeros, maintained that Pagcor, which has the power to grant licenses to operators, can order the suspension of online cockfighting.

“They can take action, (but there is no action yet). What does it say? They don’t want to,” Sotto said.

“What is their recommendation, when I talked to Malacañang and ES (Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea) told me, the President is waiting for the recommendation of Pagcor and he wants to read the Senate resolution, that’s what we talked about a few days ago,” Sotto added. “What is obviously the recommendation of Pagcor?” Sotto asked.

“While we think that based on the law, suspension (of the e-sabong) is possible, not necessarily the revocation of licenses. It is within the power of Pagcor, the mere fact that they brought the matter to the President you know they don’t want (to suspend it),” Sotto noted.

While the decision whether to hold another hearing about the missing sabungeros depends on the committee chairman, Partido Reporma standard-bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson said more information should be elicited from the people behind the e-sabong operations to locate them.

“More information should be gathered,” Lacson said.

Dela Rosa dared businessman and e-sabong operator Charlie “Atong” Ang to prove his allegations of a conspiracy by some of his rivals into linking him to the disappearances of 31 sabungeros since April 2021.

The National Bureau of Investigation already has a lead in its probe of the missing cockfight players, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

CIDG to file kidnap raps

Police are set to file charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention against six security personnel of the Manila Arena in connection with the disappearance of six cockfight players.

Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the PNP, said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) are readying the complaint against the suspects.

“We will file the cases any time this week,” Fajardo said in an interview on dzBB.

The cases are in connection with the reported kidnapping of siblings Marlon and James Baccay, John Claude Inonog, Mark Joseph Velasco, Rondel Cristorum and Rowel Gomez, all from Bulacan.

Fajardo said the six security personnel of the cockpit arena, whom she did not name, were identified by a witness as the same persons who dragged the victims into a van.

CCTV footage showed the vehicle leaving the Manila Arena on Jan. 13.

The six victims are among 34 cockfight players who went missing after participating in cockfight games in various arenas.

Fajardo said probers are still working on identifying the masterminds in the disappearance of the cockfight players. – With Emmanuel Tupas, Evelyn Macairan