{"id":777030333,"date":"2025-08-14T08:23:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030333"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:07:33","slug":"e-sabong-sites-continue-in-the-philippines-despite-nationwide-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/e-sabong-sites-continue-in-the-philippines-despite-nationwide-ban","title":{"rendered":"E-Sabong sites continue in the Philippines despite nationwide ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unregulated online cockfighting platforms continue to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- A study has found that online cockfighting, or e-sabong, continues on unregulated platforms in the Philippines despite the ban imposed in December 2022<\/a>. The sociocultural research firm The Fourth Wall has highlighted enforcement challenges and concerns about player safety and financial risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report indicates that unregulated sites such as PHDream, PHFun, Betso88, Jolibet, and Okebet host e-sabong events, often promoted through private Facebook groups and messaging, bypassing the regulated gambling market overseen by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike regulated platforms, which require government-issued IDs, age verification and third-party game audits, unregulated sites often ask for only an email or phone number for registration, increasing the risk of underage gambling and exposure to scams, the report says. They also have no limits for transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur latest report demonstrates how prohibited games like e-sabong remain easily accessible on unregulated platforms, even to high-profile figures, underscoring persistent enforcement challenges,\u201d said John Brylle Bae, research director at The Fourth Wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report comes amid a debate about the future of online gambling in the Philippines. The Department of the Interior and Local Government has also banned its officials from participating in online gambling<\/a>. Finance secretary Ralph Recto has said that about 60 per cent of online gaming firms operate without regulation<\/a>, prompting calls for tighter enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> The Philippines bans online gambling for government officials and DILG personnel<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unregulated online cockfighting platforms continue to operate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777030340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"A study by The Fourth Wall reveals the continued operation of unregulated online cockfighting (e-sabong) platforms in the Philippines, despite a December 2022 ban. These platforms bypass PAGCOR oversight, lacking essential player safety measures like ID verification and transaction limits, thereby increasing risks of underage gambling and scams. The report underscores significant enforcement challenges and fuels ongoing debate regarding online gambling regulation in the country.","focusai_entities":"The Fourth Wall, PHDream, PHFun, Betso88, Jolibet, Okebet, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Ralph Recto, John Brylle Bae","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.85), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PAGCOR Enforcement Strategy?","query":"What specific enhanced enforcement strategies is PAGCOR implementing to dismantle these persistent unregulated e-sabong operations and what is the projected timeline for measurable impact?"},{"label":"Impact on Regulated GGR?","query":"How do these pervasive unregulated e-sabong platforms impact the projected Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) and Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) for licensed operators in the Philippines, and what fiscal measures are being considered to mitigate this leakage?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[24019,20326,24804],"class_list":["post-777030333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-e-sabong","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030333","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030333"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030344,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030333\/revisions\/777030344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777030340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}