Tulfo to e-sabong congressman: Come out, apologize

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Erwin Tulfo is urging an alleged congressman caught watching online sabong on his phone during the voting for House speaker ahead of the State of the Nation Address last Monday.

During a press briefing yesterday, Tulfo said the still unidentified man, whose photo watching e-sabong went viral, should surface and apologize to the public.

“He is setting a bad example. I hope Congress will do something about it, because, nakakahiya (it’s embarrassing),” said Tulfo, who chairs the Senate games and amusement committee.

“We are being paid by taxpayers to work and not to gamble. Nakakahiya naman,” he added.

Tulfo, a former ACT-CIS representative, is asking the House leadership to impose disciplinary action on the alleged congressman.

“He should explain. Congress should ask for an explanation why, instead of working and focusing on the serious business of the day, he was caught gambling,” Tulfo said.

“I don’t understand why he should do that. You should focus on your work,” he added.

Tulfo said the viral photo of the alleged cockfight enthusiast lawmaker only exposed the continued operation of online sabong despite the nationwide ban and disappearance of the sabungeros.

He reiterated his position against another form of gambling – the more accessible online gambling – as he called for an outright ban instead of regulation.

During plenary session yesterday about bills seeking to ban or regulate online gambling, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said e-sabong is another form of online gambling that was outlawed during the previous administration.

He urged the congressman to disclose the link to the video of the online sabong.

However, one of the two members of the House of Representatives caught watching online cockfight or e-sabong when congressmen were electing Speaker Martin Romualdez has spoken up and admitted holding his personal mobile phone.

“My conscience is clear. I was just watching the video, but I didn’t engage in cockfighting. You cannot see me in cockfighting houses,” Rep. Nicanor Briones of party-list Agap admitted to TV5, pointing out it was just a “recorded video” that was sent to his cellular phone. – Delon Porcalla