ATTENTION: OPERATORS OF E-SABONG BETTING STATIONS

YESTERDAY morning at around 10 o’clock, Prez Du30 ordered the immediate termination of e- sabong (online cockfighting) operations all over the country. Effective immediately kuno yesterday. But ayon sa aming bubuwit, there were lots of e-sabong betting stations in Iloilo municipalities that continued broadcasting e- sabong, and many people still placed their bets. Haslo! Perhaps they were not immediately informed about Tatay Digong’s order? The President made public his decision in a pre-recorded speech aired yesterday morning. So let us give these e- sabong betting station operators the benefit of the doubt.

But today, dapat wala na excuse. All broadcasts of e- sabong must stop; all sabong betting stations must close; and wala na pustahanay.

Prez Du30 based his decision on the recommendation of Interior and Local Government secretary Eduardo Año who, in turn, cited feedback and validation from various sources on e- sabong’s social impact. Indi kuno maayo ang e- sabong.

The mounting calls for the scrapping or suspension of the multibillion electronic cockfighting industry came following a series of alleged abductions and disappearances of aficionados over the past few months – mostly kuno these were losing bettors who failed to meet their financial obligations. To date, these disappearances remain unsolved.

E- sabong, just like the live sabong, is addictive. Recently, a mother went viral on social media after appealing to the “buyers” of her daughter to return her child. She sold her child to pay her debts out of her addiction to e- sabong. Tarsa!

She sold her child for P45,000, but could not contact the buyer anymore when she changed her mind.