Law
Is E-Sabong Still Banned?
E-sabong — the online betting on live-streamed cockfights — was suspended nationwide on 3 May 2022 by order of President Rodrigo Duterte, with no written order accompanying the ban. Later that year, on 28 December 2022, the e-sabong suspension was formalised by Executive Order No. 9, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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How E-Sabong Was Stopped
The initial nationwide suspension of all e-sabong operations was implemented on 3 May 2022. It came as a spoken order from then-President Rodrigo Duterte, who took the step following the recommendation of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. No written order followed that oral directive.
After Duterte left office, his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. formalised the nationwide stoppage of e-sabong through Executive Order No. 9, signed on 28 December 2022. Neither the order nor Duterte's prior action suspended traditional licensed cockfighting conducted within physical cockpits.
What EO No. 9 Actually Covers
Executive Order No. 9 suspends the live-streaming or broadcasting of cockfights outside the cockpits where they take place. It also suspends online, remote or off-cockpit betting on live-streamed cockfights.
Traditional licensed cockfighting in cockpits is not covered by EO 9. The suspension targets the remote viewing and betting on cockfighting — it leaves untouched the licensed cockfights in their physical location.
Who Enforces the Suspension
The agency designated to implement EO 9 is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the state-run corporate body responsible for gaming and gaming revenue. While Pagcor has lead responsibility here, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are tasked with assisting it.
Pagcor has said that e-sabong earned the government about PHP 6.5 billion in licence fees when it was regulated in 2021, and that illegal e-sabong keeps operating and pays nothing.
Was E-Sabong Lifted in 2026?
All this considered, has any action since 2022 lifted the ban set out in EO 9? No: as of 2026, no order lifting the e-sabong suspension had been issued.
Illegal sites have not gone away. In September 2025 Pagcor told the Senate that 4,815 of the 11,985 illegal gambling sites it had identified were online cockfighting sites.
The e-sabong era also left the "missing sabungeros" case: more than 30 cockfighting enthusiasts went missing in 2021–2022. On 19 December 2025 the DOJ filed kidnapping charges against businessman Charlie "Atong" Ang and 21 others. A Laguna court issued non-bailable arrest warrants in January 2026, and Ang remained at large as of February 2026.
