Following the order to shut down e-sabong operations, the Pitmaster Foundation announced on Wednesday that it will no longer offer free dialysis sessions and medical assistance to its beneficiaries.
The Pitmaster Foundation is the sister unit of Pitmaster Live betting games.
"Unfortunately, due to the temporary suspension of the operation of our biggest donor, Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc., which primarily funded the Foundation's dialysis program, we regret to inform everyone that we will be temporarily suspending our processing of guarantee letters," the foundation’s executive director Caroline Cruz said in a letter posted on its Facebook page.
Lucky 8, owned by business tycoon Atong Ang, is among the biggest online sabong operators in the country.
"We primarily started the dialysis assistance program, because we recognize the financial burden of having to undergo dialysis treatment. Over a year and 5 months of the program's existence, we have catered to over 50,225 patients across 350 affiliated hospitals and clinics," the letter read.
"We are proud that in our ways, we have helped Filipinos through our dialysis financial assistance. Moving forward, we will be using this opportunity to improve our systems so that in the event that we can resume our program, we can efficiently cater to more patients," it added.
On Tuesday, Duterte announced the end to online cockfighting or e-sabong operations.
The president explained he is halting e-sabong operations following the recommendation from Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, whose department carried out an internal survey investigating the operations.
