Senators express alarm over missing ‘sabungeros’
A NUMBER of senators yesterday expressed grave concern on the reported missing persons or “sabungeros” without any trace allegedly connected with “sabong” (cockfighting) and “e-sabong” as they urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate the issue.
Senator Joel Villanueva insisted on the need to conduct the hearing that will investigate the alleged left and right abduction of some people allegedly from different places like Metro Manila, Laguna, Bulacan which he confirmed is related to online gambling activities.
“Mr. Chairman, I leave it to the proper authorities to determine the specific motives and reasons behind these disappearances. Ang obvious lang po sa atin ay malinaw na ang sanhi nito ay sugal [gambling]. The records will bear us out na nasa Kamara lamang po tayo ay ipinapaliwanag na natin sa ating mga kababayan kung bakit hindi makabubuti ang sugal sa ating bayan,” Villanueva said.
Sen. Pia Cayetano said it is important to call the people behind sabong and e-sabong to shed light on the controversial disappearances issue of these people.
“We already know that so many problems are associated with e-sabong and gambling. And online gambling makes it even easier. Kaya very timely po ang pagtawag niyo kasi this gives us another opportunity to directly question these people who are bringing in, who are encouraging, who are financing all the elements that go into a lucrative online gambling institution in our country.”
She stated the need to summon the franchise holder, the loan sharks, creditors, people behind the online payment systems, and those who are required to regulate the so-called e-sabong.
“There are so many questions that go into this. It is so important that we take our time na himayin natin ito. The initial concern of course is the disappearances, the lives at stake here, the people who have died,” Cayetano said.
Earlier, Sen. Ronald Bato Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs urged the public to help and provide any information that will solve the mystery behind the reported abduction of 31 men.
Dela Rosa said any pieces of information vital to the solution of the so-called abductions of these people will be treated and handled with strict confidentiality.
Sen. Pia Hontiveros for her part said it is the obligation of the proper authorities to dig deeper into the issue considering that so many lives are at stake here.
Hontiveros said the said issue is not an ordinary one and Filipinos must be aware of the consequences of gambling.
The lady senator who is also running for reelection challenged the PNP and all related government authorities to act swiftly on the issue and solve the matter immediately.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson who is the vice chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs said the entire law enforcement community must act on this issue.
Lacson said failing to resolve these cases will be a big slap or an embarrassment to the PNP and other related government agencies.
Sen. Francis Tolentino questioned the supposed legal authority of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to grant e-sabong/online sabong operators license to operate.
According to Tolentino, there is no such provision under Republic Act No. 9487 or the revised PAGCOR Charter that the country’s gambling regulatory body has any legal jurisdiction to issue any license to e-sabong operators to operate – including PAGCOR’s regulatory framework for online cockfights and the supposed creation of an e-sabong licensing department.
“Saan nag-ugat ang karapatan ninyo, ang authority na mag-issue ng prangkisa sa e-sabong? Nagke-claim kayo na may delegated authority na wala naman po sa Republic Act No. 9487,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino stressed that the “games of numbers” like cockfighting are not included in the authority covered by PAGCOR under RA 9487.
Diane Erica Jogno, PAGCOR acting Assistant Vice President for E-Sabong Department admitted to members of the Senate panel that their supposed authority on granting e-sabong licenses are only based on separate legal opinions previously issued by the Office of the Solicitor General (SolGen) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May 2018 and January 2021 respectively, as well as another memorandum earlier issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary.
Tolentino stressed PAGCOR’s “broad interpretation” of RA 9487 through the separate opinions issued by DOJ and SolGen has enabled a “gross misrepresentation” over their questionable authority on regulating e-sabong.
“Sila na po yung nag-extend ng kapangyarihan nila, sila pa po ang nagbigay sa sarili nila ng kapangyarihang i-interpret yung kapangyarihang iginawad nila sa kanilang sarili,” the senator added.
During the hybrid hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the brazenness of the individual or group behind the disappearances seems to project that they are as “powerful” as he maintained the need to unmask the people behind this move. By Camille P. Balagtas-Sarmiento
