Philippine authorities have expressed concern over a growing number of disappearances allegedly linked to online cockfighting, known locally as e-sabong.
Around 30 people are said to have gone missing since January, prompting Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to last week order the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to fully investigate a series of cases. According to the Philippine News Agency, those cases include the disappearance of 10 men shortly after being seen in cockfighting arenas in Laguna and Manila on 13 January, another six men after participating in a cockfighting tournament in Manila on the same day and 10 men from Bulacan who have been missing since attended a cockfighting match in mid-2021.
On Monday, Philippine National Police chief Dionardo Carlos issued a statement of his own ordering an investigation into the killing of three more people in San Carlos City over the weekend. The victims were on their way to a cockfighting derby when they were ambushed.
“A thorough investigation is ongoing while the PNP is trying to identify the profile of the victims. We condemn this blatant act of violence that should ultimately be resolved,” Carlos said.
Carlos revealed on Monday that he had received reports about policemen found attending cockfights and betting online. It is unclear whether they were betting on legal or illegal e-sabong sites, however Carlos noted, “This doesn’t give a good impression on their conduct as law enforcers. The bottom line is, we discourage our personnel from engaging in gambling activities as this does not augur well with their professional and personal values.”
Former police officer and now chair of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs, Senator Ronald de la Rosa, told a local radio station last week that he was launching an investigation of his own into what he describes as the rapidly growing problem of Filipinos becoming addicted to e-sabong.
Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR began issuing licenses to selected e-sabong operators in May 2021 in an effort to raise revenues while stamping out illegal online activities.
The regulator said at the time that it “advises the public not to engage in any gaming activity from unlicensed e-sabong operators and unregistered e-sabong websites to avoid being duped and cheated of your hard-earned money.
“It is for the above reasons that PAGCOR had to step in to regulate the emerging industry to primarily protect the Filipino players and to ensure that the government get its appropriate share of revenues from their operations. Without regulation, e-sabong will proliferate and have far reaching detrimental effects on its players.”
