Gov’t wants to sell sequestered media outfits

The constitutional ban on the foreign ownership of the media is frustrating government efforts to sell sequestered media entities like Channels 9 and 13 and the Philippine Journalists Inc. (PJI) group of publications.

Presidential Spokesman and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and government media entities Secretary Cerge Remonde told the STAR separately yesterday that the privatization of the companies, especially the two TV networks, is being hampered by the lack of investors willing to plunk down as much as P5 billion in investments.

Given the huge capital outlay involved, the two Palace officials agreed that foreign investors could be the white knight for the sequestered companies if the 1987 Constitution is amended to allow foreign ownership of the media.

"We’re just looking for the buyers," Bunye said.

The stand of the two officials mirrors a statement made by Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri in an interview Monday with the ABS-CBN network on the possibility of transforming the country into a global media center by removing the constitutional ban on media ownership.

But Bunye described Neri’s proposal as "something far out, nothing definite yet."

"The President has said she is in favor of reviewing the Charter but it is a question of timing. Perhaps, we should take up first our most immediate concerns," Bunye told the STAR.

Bunye said the government’s priority was to get eight proposed tax measures passed by Congress.

Channels 9 and 13, along with PJI, were among the companies sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) following the ouster of the late authoritarian President Ferdinand Marcos.

Channels 9 and 13 were owned by Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto who, prior to his death, agreed to settle with the PCGG over control of the two networks.

Remonde told the STAR that Mrs. Arroyo wanted to sell off the sequestered media entities — especially the two networks, which are suffering from heavy losses — but there were "no takers."

"It takes two to tango," he said. "As of now, there are no serious takers because the industry itself has been depressed and it requires huge capital investments."

Remonde cited industry estimates that it would require as much as P2 billion to buy either of the two TV stations and another P2 billion to make them competitive with existing private stations like ABS-CBN and GMA 7.

"Who has that kind of money to invest as much as P4 to P5 billion when the advertising industry has been growing at only ten to 20 percent for the last five years?" he asked.