The Senate will debate on businessman Atong Ang's franchise application for his e-sabong firm after the elections, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
"Ang importante, ang prangkisa na hinihingi nila at pagbalik namin after the election, 'yan po ay aming pagdedebatehan sa Mayo 23," Drilon told DZRH in an interview.
(What is important is the franchise that they are applying for and when we return after the election, we will debate on that on May 23.)
Ang's franchise application for his e-sabong firm Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc. has already passed the House of Representatives, allowing it to live broadcast cockfighting activities online and other means.
It also allows the e-sabong firm to construct, establish, operate, and maintain on-cockpit and off-cockpit betting stations.
The bill now rests in the Senate's hands, where Drilon said they will debate on a number of matters before granting the application.
"Isa po sa aming titignan ay magkano ang dapat na maging buwis na bayaran ang e-sabong," he said. He cited Ang's revelation that his firm earns a P3-billion monthly gross income after getting a five-percent commission from its P1 to P2 billion daily earnings.
(One of the things that we’re looking at is how much tax will we impose on e-sabong.)
According to Drilon, to ensure that income is properly declared, they will require financial services to report the total bets they receive to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
"Halimbawa, ang GCash, kung magkano ang bets na dumaan sa kanila, 'yun ang dapat na basehan ng five percent," he said.
(For example, we’ll know how much bets went through Gcash, and that’s where we will base the five percent.)
Drilon said it is not wrong for e-sabong operations to continue even without a franchise, saying that they are already running even without it.
"Ngunit hindi po bawal, hindi po unconstitutional na bigyan sila ng prangkisa ng Kongreso, which will now define kung ano po ang kanilang tungkulin sa ilalim ng pago-operate nitong e-sabong," he cleared.
(But it is not wrong, it is not unconstitutional for Congress to give them a franchise, which will not define what are their duties while operating e-sabong.)
The Senate is considering the halt of Ang's application for his e-sabong franchise amid the case of missing sabungeros, where some of the missing individuals were last seen in three arenas where Ang's Lucky 8 Star Quest, Inc. operates.
