Philippines online cockfighting boom triggers Senate scrutiny, calls for tighter regulations and revenue share

The Philippines’ booming online cockfighting industry that’s getting billions of pesos in monthly bets is facing scrutiny from lawmakers who want to halt betting and impose stricter regulations.

The Southeast Asian nation’s gaming regulator should heed the Senate’s recommendation to suspend online cockfighting operations while cases of more than 30 missing cock fighters are being resolved, Senator Ronald dela Rosa who heads the public order committee said at an inquiry on Friday. Other lawmakers sought to increase the government’s revenue share and limit the industry’s round-the-clock operations.

Online cockfighting has seen a surge in the Philippines, as bettors get easier access through mobile phones while they’re confined to their homes during the pandemic.

Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc., one of the companies licensed to operate online cockfighting, gets about 60 billion pesos (US$1.16 billion) in bets per month, owner Charlie “Atong” Ang told the Senate. The company collects a 5 per cent fee from bettors which translates to about 3 billion pesos in revenue each month, Ang said. After expenses and commissions paid to its agents, Lucky 8 gets about 800 million pesos to 900 million pesos in earnings, Ang said.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp stands to lose as much as 640 million pesos in monthly revenue if online cockfighting is halted, chairman Andrea Domingo said at the Senate hearing. “This is not an easy thing to do. It has a very strong effect on revenue generation,” she said of the proposal to suspend the online game.