The government wants to create a legal framework for this industry to standardize sport with comprehensive rules, systems and oversight and to tax a portion of the revenue. Once that happens, two major government agencies will oversee all e-Sabong activities across the country: On page 3 of the Sunday, February 5, 2017 edition of Tempo, the headline reads: «QC City Council wants online cockfighting to be regulated.» The article read as follows: «.. E-Sabong or online cockfighting. are illegal, even if the OTBs concerned have received a business permit from the town hall». The Philippine government acknowledges that this is a very popular phenomenon, and while it has cracked down on these operators, the country`s lawmakers are tackling the online sabong madness with a sensible approach to legalize, standardize, regulate and tax a portion of sports betting revenue. « Kanang online game, bisan kinsa pa ang president, supak gyud ko ana. Tungod kay naay daghang mga banay, naay daghang mga katawhan na maguba tungod ana,» he said. Illegal cockfighting online is exactly what it sounds like: illegal cockfighting online. As there are no laws surrounding this underground and fringe industry, all bets placed online with unauthorized cockpits are considered illegal. At present, there are no defined laws on online sabong betting. However, if HB 8910 comes into force, this will change. At that time, Sabong and e-Sabong would run PAGCOR and the GAB for the show.
The PH gambling industry simply wants to bring e-Sabong out of the shadows and have it regulated like other online sports betting using modern connected technology to take the national sport to new heights. The Philippine National Police (PNP) announced today that a number of social media sites and pages involved in illegal e-sabong activities have been referred to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). The gambling regulator and the casino operator will verify the accuracy of the names. It will then forward it to the Department of Information and Communication Technology and Facebook to block access. The Philippines relies heavily on gambling revenues to fund infrastructure projects, and proper management of e-Sabong and Sabong sporting events in general would go a long way toward this. LEPI prefaced its petition with the statement that «Sabong`s online driving at various OTB stations is obviously illegal. In addition, it has inflicted great damage on the horse racing industry. Worse still, the government deprived some 350 million pesos of much-needed revenue and continued to steal it. At a May 17 press conference, Marcos spokesman Vic Rodriguez said the new president was willing to give up E-Sabong`s income «if it harms the value of the Filipino family.» Police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao also attended a press conference on the issue today. The PNP official stressed that police forces need to pay attention to illegal online gambling in their ranks.
He warned that those who violate the order face severe penalties. The petition was directed against the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom), which originally authorized online electronic sabong operations at its off-track betting (OTB) stations. (This was five years before the regulatory framework for the electronic Sabong [e-Sabong] was approved by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. on March 27, 2022.) In the February 6, 2017 edition of the Manila Times, a headline reads: «QC cracks down on online cockfighting betting.» The article states: «OTBs were originally created to only accept betting on horse racing, but a group of businessmen introduced the sabong online with OTB facilities last year.» «Nakikipag-ugnayan na kami sa PNP [Philippine National Police] na hulihin ang mga online sabong sites na wala pang mga lisensya,» Domingo added. However, E-Sabong is extremely popular, with hundreds of thousands of Sabong enthusiasts flocking to unregulated locations to place their bets on underground Sabong derbies. «Makaguba na sa moralidad lakip na sa atong mga banay ba unta buhion sa amahan ang anak apan ang sapi tua napadong sa online sagong,» Inting said. «Continuing to operate E-Sabong at this stage would be illegal. Those who continue to resist suspension can be arrested and charged in court,» Jonathan Malaya, undersecretary and spokesman for the DILG, said in an interview with the ANC.
I searched online for E-Sabong case law, in particular GR 229688, but found none. This meant that the Supreme Court had not yet ruled on the petition or had rejected it prematurely. That said, there is a movement on the islands to legalize and regulate e-Sabong, as well as expanded traditional Sabong betting initiatives. Most analysts believe that e-Sabong will be legal in the Philippines in 2022 or 2023, with regulated betting sites (i.e. cockfighting OTBs) going live as soon as they are allowed. They conducted a series of raids on illegal drugs, gambling, wanted persons and firearms from midnight on May 21 to midnight on May 22. Police in the Central Visayas made 243 arrests during their operation against illegal gambling. World Gamefowl Expo for the wild poultry industry, often held in the Philippines, which has a profound impact on cockfighting and the Philippine Sabang market. And it would make a lot of sense for the country to go in that direction too, because when it comes to Sabong online, Filipino punters are extremely enthusiastic. With a Sabong derby taking place at a specific location on the islands on a specific day, a comprehensive and taxable model for such operations would give the country a much-needed boost. Some malicious entities are ignoring a call to end E-Sabong in the Philippines. The raids are likely to intensify, with a list of platforms, including eight on Facebook, soon to go bankrupt.
That remains to be seen, and it could very well be part of the regulated Philippine e-Sabong legal framework in the future. At present, the market for land-based casinos on the islands requires all players to be registered and provide proof of income before they can play legally. DILG estimates that there are five million e-sabong players in the country. However, the following sites offer a variety of other popular Filipino sports betting markets, including PBA betting, baseball betting, boxing betting, eSports betting and more, and they are legal and safe for all Filipino sports bettors aged 18 and over. UPDATE 2022: Following a presidential decree, online cockfighting – also known as eSabong – is currently illegal in the Philippines. The hobby was briefly legal for most of 2021 and early 2022, but a «diversion scandal» rocked the industry and prompted the government to suspend all e-sabon services indefinitely.