Philracom has no power to stop online ‘sabong’

It’s a case of barking up the wrong tree.

Reacting to a news report that it is being haled to court by a certain group to stop the operation of online cockfight betting in all off-track betting stations (OTB), the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) reminded the petitioners that it cannot “perform an act” that it has no jurisdiction of.

“To date, the Philracom has not received any order from the Supreme Court requiring it to comment on the alleged Petition for Mandamus filed by a certain Liga ng Eksplosibong Pagbabago, Inc. (LEPI) to compel Philracom to order OTBs to stop the betting on online sabong,” said the Philracom’s legal counsel Atty. Pilita Venturanza. “However, if such a case were really filed, it would be a waste of precious time for both the Supreme Court and Philracom. In layman’s terms, mandamus is a legal remedy to compel a government agency to do some specific act which the said agency is obliged to do under the law.”

In the petition by the LEPI to the Supreme Court, it said that the Philracom as a regulatory body has “all the powers to stop online sabong in the OTBs.”

The Philracom, however, is dumbfounded as it is being forced to perform a function it has no business of doing.

“PD 420 (as amended by PD 1095), the very law that created the Philra- com has expressly excluded from its jurisdiction functions that are related to the supervision and regulation of betting in horse-racing and has conferred the same to the Games and Amusements Board,” Atty. Venturanza said.

“How can the court compel Philracom to perform an act that the law has expressly excluded from its functions and jurisdiction?” Atty. Venturaza asked.

The Philracom legal counsel added that jurisdiction is conferred by law.