‘My conscience is clean,’ says House ‘sabong’ watcher
The snapshot, taken behind his back and posted online without his permission, ruffled the congressman’s feathers.
AGAP Rep. Nicanor Briones did some explaining on Wednesday as he admitted being the seated man in barong who was photographed holding a mobile phone and watching a video of a cockfight—all while inside the House plenary hall and hours before President Marcos was to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Days after netizens bristled at the image for showing an act they considered unbecoming of a lawmaker, Briones maintained that he was not watching the video as though he had placed a bet on online “sabong.”
‘Don’t even have GCash’
In an interview with reporters, he said he simply clicked on a video to while away the time “because the voting took so long.” He was referring to the reelection of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as Speaker that day.
Briones, a member of the House minority bloc, said the video was sent to him by a nephew who had asked him to “sponsor” a cockfight.
“It’s not e-sabong,” he stressed. “I don’t even have GCash (an e-wallet used for placing bets). I don’t even know how to do money transfer because I’m so old-school.”
“My conscience is clean. I don’t participate in any cockfights. You won’t even see me near any cockfighting arena,” he added.
What’s your motive?
Briones challenged the person who took the photograph—which showed him with his back to the camera— to come forward and “say what your motive is.”
“I came forward because I didn’t want Congress to be implicated in this. The voting just really took a long time and I just looked at a message sent to me,” he said.
But before the congressman could break his silence, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission—one of the agencies cracking down on illegal gambling—had urged the House leadership to investigate its member who was in the photograph.
Amid calls for ban
The photo also went viral amid calls from the Church and some lawmakers to ban online gambling for being a cause of addiction and financial ruin among families.
President Marcos also recently acknowledged that online gambling had become “destructive” and a social ill that “tears families apart.” His Sona on Monday, however, was silent on the matter.
Before Briones spoke to the media late Wednesday, Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano, the newly appointed chair of the House committee on public order and safety, urged his fellow lawmaker to “just come clean and apologize.”
Valeriano also denied being the man in the picture, stressing he was actually one of the first House members to file a bill in the newly opened 20th Congress calling for a ban on online cockfights.
