President Duterte: “It’s not the fault of the management of kanang nagsabong tinuod. It’s the fault of evil men doing something wrong unya nagkaupakan.”
On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that the disappearance of missing sabungeros shouldn’t be blamed on online sabong (online cockfighting) operations but on “evil men doing something wrong”.
In his speech at the inauguration of the new Leyte provincial capitol in Palo, the President again defended online sabong and the PHP 640 million a month in revenues that it generated.
According to the President, the culture among cockfighting enthusiasts and syndicates is different.
“It’s not the fault of the management who are doing it fairly. It’s the fault of the evil men doing something wrong and they end up fighting,” the President said in a mix of English, Bisaya, and Tagalog. “The culture among cockfighting enthusiasts and syndicates is different. They just found out things about one another.”
The President also said that the government would lose billions of pesos in revenues if the online sabong operations were stopped. He added that it was up to the police to stop the crimes involved.
President Duterte earlier said that he wasn’t keen on suspending the online sabong operation considering the billions of income that the government receives from it.
READ ALSO: Ping Lacson Seeks Stricter Rules For Online Sabong Operations
According to the President, even if he ordered the closure of online sabong, would still continue through illegal operations.
Meanwhile, Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson earlier said that the government must tighten regulations on online sabong operations if it is not willing to suspend it.
According to Lacson, its social implications may be costly once more Filipinos become addicted to it.
“At least man lang strict regulation. Huwag 24 hours. Dapat mahigpit ang regulatory authority ng PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation),” Lacson said.
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