{"id":26991,"date":"2022-02-04T11:26:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T14:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=26991"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:35:15","slug":"philippines-three-presidential-candidates-against-e-sabong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-three-presidential-candidates-against-e-sabong","title":{"rendered":"Philippines: three presidential candidates against e-sabong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three candidates who are running for president at the upcoming Philippines elections have expressed their opposition to legalising online cockfighting operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Five presidential candidates who participated in an election forum on Friday were divided over\u00a0The Philippines’ legalisation of online cockfighting<\/strong>. Vice president Leni Robredo, senator Panfilo Lacson and Labour leader Leody de Guzman\u00a0<\/strong>stated that they were not in favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacson said lawmakers should scrutinise applications for e-sabong franchises. He also said that while granting a franchise could be a possible source of funding for the government, the social problems it could cause are not worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robredo said she was against activities that could lead to addiction, adding that it could degrade the values \u200b\u200bof children and adults. Acknowledging that the franchise is in the hands of lawmakers, Robredo urged lawmakers to consult with operators and affected communities before making a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand,\u00a0Manila mayor Isko Moreno and senator Manny Pacquiao<\/strong>\u00a0supported the cockfighting industry, as long as there is government regulation. Moreno said e-sabong will continue to thrive even without legalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pacquiao also said that cockfighting is so rooted in the Filipino culture that it should be regulated by the government to ensure that minors cannot enter. Last year, PAGCOR announced the\u00a0first licensed e-sabong operators<\/a>\u00a0had started to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Philippines\u2019 cockfighting industry is believed to be worth just over US$1bn per year<\/strong>. PAGCOR<\/a> has collected PHP1bn (US$19.9m) in fees since licenced e-sabong (online cockfighting) operators started to operate in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2022 Philippine presidential elections are scheduled to be held on May 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three candidates who are running for president at the upcoming Philippines elections have expressed their opposition to legalising online cockfighting operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":10910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Philippine presidential candidates are divided on the future of online cockfighting (e-sabong), a US$1bn industry. While some candidates oppose it due to social concerns, others support its regulation, citing cultural significance and government revenue potential, despite PAGCOR having already licensed operators. The upcoming May 9 elections will determine the regulatory trajectory of this significant gaming vertical.","focusai_entities":"Leni Robredo, Panfilo Lacson, Leody de Guzman, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, PAGCOR","focusai_location":"Philippines, Manila","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Impact Analysis","query":"What are the projected GGR and NGR implications for the Philippine iGaming sector if e-sabong operations are fully legalized versus outright banned by the incoming administration?"},{"label":"Governance Frameworks","query":"How might the proposed regulatory frameworks for e-sabong, as discussed by the candidates, align with or diverge from international best practices for responsible gambling and consumer protection?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,158,16333],"tags":[24019,23911],"class_list":["post-26991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-e-sabong","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26991"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26997,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26991\/revisions\/26997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}