Budget department bucks proposal to revive e-sabong
THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday rejected a proposal to revive online cockfighting operations or e-sabong, saying the government has enough revenue to fund next year’s national budget.
“It’s not in the assumptions for the 2025 budget,” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing on Wednesday, referring to potential taxes from e-sabong.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) earlier proposed to revive e-sabong operations to help generate additional state revenue.
At a recent House of Representatives hearing, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco said the agency could better regulate e-sabong operations.
“I brought up this concern with Congress and the Senate,” he said. “Definitely, there are foregone revenues. But then again, there are also social consequences.”
But Ms. Pangandaman said PAGCOR continues to generate earnings without the e-sabong.
PAGCOR reported a 32.32% surge in gross gaming revenue to P89.23 billion in the second quarter, mostly from electronic gambling.
PAGCOR collected over P6 billion in revenue from online cockfighting a year before it was banned by ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Mr. Duterte banned the practice in May 2022 after the disappearance of 34 cockfighting players who got addicted to e-sabong. They have not been found.
Before the ban, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and PAGCOR did not withhold the 20% tax on e-sabong winnings since it started in 2020.
However, e-sabong operations continue despite the ban, Mr. Tengco said in February.
Several lawmakers also opposed the revival, saying it is worse than Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. banned given their links to criminal syndicates.
A bill that seeks to prohibit all forms of online gambling is pending at a Senate committee.
Ms. Pangandaman said the proposed e-sabong revival would be discussed in the economic team’s meeting this month. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
