The interior department on Saturday directed the police to go after illegal e-sabong operators defying President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to stop it.,Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the anti-cybercrime group of the Philippine National Police across the country to go after cockfighting sites that were still operating.,“These illegal e-sabong outfits are operating without licenses or franchises from the national or local governments and are not remitting a single peso in revenue to the state,” Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said through a statement.,Citing reports, the interior department said seven online cockfighting outfits were still operating even if only physical sabong activities were allowed to continue after the President’s directive.,Malaya urged the public to report to the police online sabong betting sites still operating in their areas.,“It was illegal and you won’t know where your money goes or if there are fraudsters,” he said.,Duterte earlier this month ordered to stop e-sabong operations, saying the gambling platform was “working against our values” even though he previously defended it from criticism for billions-worth of revenues that it generates.,Earlier this year, senators called on the Chief Executive to halt the operations of online sabong licensees after at least 34 players have gone missing, which the police said may be linked to game-fixing.,Duterte initially rejected their call, noting that it would hurt tax collection as e-sabong earned P3.7 billion from e-sabong from April to December 2021, and at least P1.4 billion in the first three months of this year.,E-sabong flourished during the pandemic since it catered to thousands of bettors who need not go to gaming sites amid the threat of coronavirus., ,