Philippines: 24 arrested in connection with illegal online cockfighting
Police in Cebu carried out a series of raids in the last five days to crack down on illegal e-sabong operations.
The Philippines.- Police in Cebu say they have arrested 24 people in connection with e-sabong, which was banned in May. On Tuesday (December 6), three people were arrested in connection with an illegal cockfight outside the cockpit arena in Bugho.
Police seized 17 fighting cocks, four monitors, a computer, one digital camera, one video camera, one router, one media converter and assorted wires used to broadcast the illegal cockfight live on the internet.
The same day, the CIDG Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City Field Units arrested 13 people suspected of betting on cockfights at haringtalpakan.com using their cellphones. Earlier this week, police arrested eight people in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City.
Police Regional Office Central Visayas brigadier general Roderick Augustus Alba, told The Sun Star: “We shall continue our massive campaign against e-sabong and all forms of illegal gambling. I directed all units to intensify their intelligence gathering on e-sabong operations and to immediately conduct anti-illegal gambling operations.”
Meanwhile, Families continue to call for action after a lack of progress in investigations of the 34 disappearances connected to e-sabong between April 2021 and January 2022. Families of the missing bettors have met with justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and called for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make progress. However, Remulla did not respond to questions about what was causing the delay.
