Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco disclosed on Tuesday that online sabong operations continue despite the ban implemented by the previous administration.
Tengco revealed this during a Senate hearing when questioned about PAGCOR’s plans to potentially revive e-sabong.
“As of now, I think there is an ongoing study, primarily because, despite the ban that was made, if I’m not mistaken, sometime in May of 2022, e-sabong continues—I mean, candidly speaking, e-sabong still continues to proliferate,” Tengco stated.
“E-sabong is ongoing, and unfortunately, it is not being regulated…the sad part is that today, the government is not getting a centavo,” he added.
Tengco mentioned that PAGCOR generated nearly P6.5 billion in license fees in 2021 when the agency was still regulating e-sabong.
“Whether it will be revived, I don’t want to second guess, Mr. Chairman, but I believe that, again, this is a major problem of regulating the said e-sabong because, as mentioned, during the time that it was ongoing and being regulated by PAGCOR, PAGCOR gained close to six and a half billion, and today not a single peso is generated,” he explained.
“I think there might be some variations in the regulations that can be studied, but then again, I do not want to preempt whatever decision whoever will make on the matter. But honestly, within PAGCOR, we’re not studying it at this very moment,” he added.
In May 2022, then-President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a halt to e-sabong operations due to its social costs.
E-sabong drew significant attention in 2022 following the disappearance of dozens of individuals involved in the industry. The cases of missing sabungeros remain unresolved two years later.