IN view of a missing acquaintance whom I suspect is among the recently reported missing cockfighters, I was going over some news articles regarding the latest development on the said issue when I came across a letter to the editor forwarded by a former Congressman and a former mayor to a national newspaper.
In it, the two said they wanted to bring to public attention the “ills and miseries” that e-sabong has unleashed, amid the grief and uncertainties on the part of the families of the missing sabungeros who, up to now, are yet to surface after they went missing.
One of the said letter-writers said that his nephew took his own life after becoming heavily-indebted due to online sabong.
At first, he was preoccupied selling family properties to pay the debts he had incurred running to nearly a million pesos.
His addiction to the online gambling got him buried in debt that in the end, he decided to end his problems by committing suicide, leaving behind three young children.
The two former officials also cited the case of a helper who was caught stealing for the first time after having been employed for many years. All he wanted was to have money to bet on e-sabong.
At this point and because there is no way to describe it better, I would like to borrow the own words of the said former provincial officials in painting how bad e-sabong is for our country.
“Elsewhere, farmers have been reported to sell their farm lots and carabaos, or mortgage their houses, just to pay debts incurred from their newfound addiction to e-sabong.
Why are people trooping to the e-sabong betting stations? It is an accepted fact that gambling gives these people hope of overcoming poverty overnight. But the more they pin their hopes on e-sabong to help them break out from poverty, the more they are plunged into an abyss of debt that is sometimes too deep that people are forced to take their own life.
This is worse than the illegal drug trade. Illegal drugs are not easy to get, and transactions are done discreetly. But e-sabong, being legal, is easily accessible. With the reported five to six betting stations per barangay, there are even reports of minors, such as 10-year-old kids, casting their bets.
The Duterte administration erred in granting franchises to the e-sabong operators. As people continue to suffer economically due to this pandemic, the more they would be inclined to engage in games promising an escape route out of poverty. We hope the administration will review its policy on e-sabong, eventually suspending or even rescinding the franchises it granted these operators. We cannot bear seeing more lives wasted, more families broken up, and more crimes committed by people addicted to e-sabong.”
It is good and highly commendable that President Duterte no less, already ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to suspend the licenses of the seven e-sabong operators it earlier allowed operations. These are the Lucky 8 Star Quest, Visayas Cockers Club, Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies, Newin Cockers Alliance Gaming Corporation, Philippine Cockfighting International, Golden Buzzer and Belvedere Vista Corporation.
President Duterte also gave the Philippine National Police (PNP) 30 days to come up with findings and tapped the help of the National Bureau of Investigation too.
In the meantime, the families of the 31 missing sabungeros are facing an uncertain future and continue to live in anguish, not knowing if their loved ones are still alive or not.
E-sabong must not be allowed to resume operations until after the issue of the missing cockfighters is resolved fully, for the sake of their aggrieved families. Better yet, until they are produced alive, specially since their disappearance is being linked to e-sabong operations.
(Jokjok from Jorge Guevarra of Pasay City)
Pedro: ‘Tol, mag-iinternet ako! Bubuksan ko account mo sa Facebook ha!
Juan: Bakit, alam mo ba password ko, kuya?
Pedro: Oo naman, nakita ko! LIMANG ASTERISK!
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