SC asked to stop Philracom from allowing betting on online ‘sabong’

Supreme Court facade. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court to stop the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) from allowing the betting on online “sabong” in its premises saying the government loses P350 million in tax revenues from the illegal scheme per year.

In a 19-page petition for mandamus, the Liga ng Eksplosibong Pagbabago, Inc. (LEPI) also urged the high court to order the Philracom to collect from those responsible for the supposed revenue share of the government that was lost because of online sabong and to immediately remit the same to the national treasury.

“We are asking the Supreme Court to immediately compel Philracom to perform its mandate, that is, to protect our horse racing industry which has been a lucrative source of amusement tax revenue, by putting a stop to the illegal operation of online sabong in the OTBs (off-track betting stations),” Dr. Gilda Peralta, LEPI secetary-general, said.

She explained that revenues were lost because there is no clear mechanism to tax online sabong.

“It has been eating into the revenues of horse racing since racing aficionados end up betting in sabong instead of horse racing when these two games are held simultaneously in the OTBs,” Peralta said.

She added that as a regulatory body, Philracom, which has all the powers to stop online sabong in the OTBs, failed to lift a finger despite its oft-repeated mantra of protecting and regulating all matters pertaining to horse racing.

“We have no other recourse but to go to the Supreme Court because there is much confusion as to the legality of online sabong, and the government stands to lose more as horseracing revenues go down along with the 25 percent in amusement taxes from horseracing, as a result of the proliferation of online sabong in the OTBs,” Peralta said.

The petition added that there is nothing under the law creating Philracom that allows it to operate online sabong.

“The conduct of online sabong in various OTB stations is patently illegal. More so, it had greatly prejudiced the horse-racing industry. Worst, the same had deprived, and is continuously depriving, the government of some P350 million pesos of much needed revenues,” the petition further stated. RAM