MANILA, Philippines — House of Representatives Deputy Speaker David Suarez urged the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Tuesday to consider setting up off-cockpit and in-cockpit betting sites so that losses from the total ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) would be recovered.
During the House of Representatives committee on appropriations hearing on PCSO’s contributions to the budget, Suarez said lawmakers believe the government will lose around P7 billion in revenues due to the Pogo ban, and around 25,000 Filipinos will lose their jobs.
Suarez asked if these losses could be offset by having non-online betting sites for cockfighting, similar to the off-track betting (OTB) sites for horse racing.
“I don’t know if it is within the realm or within the bounds of PCSO, but I’m a little bit concerned, Madam Chair, so the President has made a pronouncement, total ban tayo ng Pogo. But there’s another form of illegal online gambling that has been banned but is still proliferating, this online sabong. Some do guerrilla operations leading to several incidents,” Suarez said.
“Now my question is […] in horse racing, for example, we do have these OTB, off-track betting [sites]. Is it within the realm of PCSO to manage and to run something similar, however with no online apparatus or online capabilities? Purely looking into the betting aspect,” he added.
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PCSO Board Chairperson Felix Reyes initially responded with e-sabong or online cockfighting, but Suarez said that they are against that form of gambling. Eventually, Reyes said that while there is no clear law on how off-cockpit or in-cockpit betting will be conducted, the PCSO can be the lead agency once an enabling law is enacted, given their experience of collecting bets through the lotto.
“Well, if this is about remote cockfighting, whereas you said it would be the same with OTB, where bets are placed through what we call off-track betting, which will translate into off-cockpit betting station, we can also do this inside cockpit arenas, which we call in-cockpit betting stations,” Reyes said.
“But as of now, there is no clear law with who has the mandate to govern over this. Maybe it is good if we can check on who has the capability to do this, is it Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation)? If online, it’s really Pagcor. Or PCSO? Maybe we also have enough experience in terms of selling or entertaining bets because we have permanent outlets due to lotto,” he added.
According to Suarez, it cannot be denied that cockfighting is a multi-billion industry because different sectors benefit from these games.
“You know it’s a billion dollar industry, I mean when it comes to feeds, when it comes to veterinary equipment, when it comes to the breeders, of course, and the jobs it produces. And you know it’s an opportunity I think that we can look into just to define which agency can properly manage and monitor,” he said.
“Because one thing that we need to accept, number one it’s happening — but the problem is the government is not earning because they are operating illegally. So the question is now for us, how can we properly stop this, regulate it, and put it in such a way where the government can earn income,” he added.
In a press briefing after the discussions at the committee, Suarez relayed that PCSO committed to providing a legal paper regarding his suggestion.
“So it was agreed with the PCSO, they will be preparing a legal paper to be presented to Congress. And maybe through Congress, we can come up with the necessary policies and guidelines in line with the directives of the President and our Speaker,” he said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during his third State of the Nation Address (Sona), issued a total ban on Pogos, ordering Pagcor to wind up operations by the end of 2024. While Marcos’ stand on Pogos gained a standing ovation, some also expressed concerns about the potential revenue loss if Pogos were banned.
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However, many financial firms and lawmakers have noted that the total Pogo ban would not hurt the government’s revenue-generation measures. After Marcos’ Sona, Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez said this P7 billion loss is a small amount compared to the problems that Pogos has caused.
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