THE government-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has given its go signal to “online sabong (cockfighting)” to qualified operators, citing, among others, the urgent need of the government for additional funds because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is also imperative that we must provide protection to online cockfighting aficionados that they are not cheated or robbed of their hard-earned money, thus the need to give them a license,” Jose Tria, senior vice president for Offshore and Online Gaming, said on Monday.