ABS-CBN may operate until 2022 — lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast network ABS-CBN may continue operations until 2022 even if it fails to renew its franchise upon expiration on March 30, a ranking lawmaker said yesterday. 

House legislative franchises committee vice chairman and Isabela Rep. Tonypet Albano said the embattled network would not be automatically shut down even if it fails to secure a new franchise from Congress before April.

He explained that under the rules, a legislative franchise holder may continue to operate with an expired franchise for as long as it was able to file its application for renewal within the reglementary period.

“May I remind the public that even if the ABS-CBN franchise expires on March 30, it doesn’t mean that ABS-CBN will close completely because the rule of thumb… is that while 18th Congress is still ongoing they can continue its services (pending renewal of application),” Albano stressed.

In other words, since ABS-CBN was able to file its application within the 18th Congress, the network may continue to operate until the end of this Congress or until 2022.

“We do plan to deliberate on it ASAP… We assure the public later on that we will hear the case because the committee chairman, and the leadership of the House in particular, has been closely monitoring the events but we also have a lot of other issues to tackle before the ABS-CBN franchise,” Albano revealed.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III will seek a meeting with Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to discuss issues surrounding the franchise renewal as senators continue to prod the House of Representatives to act on the long-pending application of the network. 

He said even with the quo warranto case, Congress can still proceed with acting on the application for franchise renewal.

“What’s happening? Are we (Senate) waiting for nothing or what? Because you know, at the moment, we are handcuffed. Until it (franchise renewal bill) reaches the Senate, we cannot do anything about it,” Sotto told reporters.

Like Albano, he believes that ABS-CBN can still continue operating even until 2022 as long as the bill is pending and has not been decided upon with finality by both chambers of Congress. 

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri believes that a majority of his colleagues support the franchise renewal as Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III urged the House to act quickly on the application.

“To be fair, they (House) should take action – pass or fail – so the concerned people will know what to do next, like to move for a motion for reconsideration, seek to override the vote. They should not let it sleep as if nothing is pending,” Pimentel said.

For Vice President Leni Robredo, the filing of quo warranto shows the government’s “abuse of power.”

“What’s happening is contrary to the normal process of renewing franchise. This is an act of harassment based on selfish agenda of those in position. Therefore, it is an abuse of power,” Robredo said in a statement in Filipino.

She called on the public to be watchful of the harassment, saying “if this can be done to the most powerful network in the county how much more to smaller networks, publications, radio stations and even to our personal social media feed so it can dictate what’s true and significant.”

Robredo urged Congress to start deliberation on the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise and protect the freedom of speech. “The freedom of the press is not just about the freedom to speak up. It’s also about the right of the public to hear the truth. If the government seizes this power, it also seizes our collective responsibility to examine the truth.”

Liberal Party president and Sen. Francis Pangilinan called on Filipinos to unite and resist authoritarianism in all its forms, a call which the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno also supports.

He said stacking the government with supporters, cracking down on the opposition and silencing the media using all resources at hand are indications of the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

“In 1972, when the ousted dictator imposed martial law, he also arrested his critics and shut down major media outfits like ABS-CBN together with the Filipino people,” he added.

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima also questioned the purpose of the petition: “Who does this quo warranto serve? Who asked for this? Definitely not the Filipino people whom Calida claims he represents. This is nothing but another attack by a vulture against a vulnerable institution already weakened after months of badgering by the President with the acquiescence of Congress.”

Groups slam petition

Various media organizations have expressed alarm over the case, with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) saying it is a dangerous attempt to control and silence the free press as it called on the legal community to clarify whether there is basis for such use of quo warranto.

It noted that Calida previously used the same strategy to remove former chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

“Calida’s petition clearly serves the interests of a sulking president. In 2017, he (President Duterte) complained that ABS-CBN failed to air political ads which had already been paid for. He harped on this grievance repeatedly, threatening to cancel the network’s franchise. However, the current petition lists other offenses subject to the authority of other agencies to evaluate, for instance, the Philippine Depositary Receipt approved by the Security and Exchange Commission,” CMFR said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the petition proves that the government is hell-bent on using its powers to shut down the network that has gotten the ire of the President.

“We call on the community of independent Filipino journalists to close ranks around our colleagues in ABS-CBN,” the group. “We call on all Filipinos who cherish democracy to stand up and defend press freedom because this freedom belongs to you.”

The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) said the government’s move politically harasses and threatens a pillar of the media industry that employs thousands of Filipinos.

“Our ABS-CBN colleagues have been on the frontlines of every major breaking news in the country. They have chronicled history and continue to hold power to account. We call on Congress to act independently. We call on our Supreme Court justices to side with the people’s right to truthful and independent news, the Constitution and democracy,” said FOCAP.

The Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines also said that a free media is a cornerstone of dynamic democracy and the slightest trace of political persecution undermines the most desirable form of governance for Filipinos as it called on Congress to commence work on the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.

According to the Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines, thousands would lose jobs if the shutdown pushes through.

“But more than the direct victims of the government’s relentless pursuit to silence what it perceives as media critical of its work and policies, it is the public, which has been the television network’s consumer in the 25 years of its current franchise, who stand to lose the most. To deprive them of the network’s services is to deprive them of the freedom of access to information… It is the public’s right to information, the freedom of the press and our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression that are threatened,” it said.

The University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication also expressed alarm over the petition, saying the move is reminiscent of the situation prior to the declaration of martial law during the Marcos dictatorship.

“It has been 34 years since we won back our right to information and a free press through the 1986 EDSA Revolution. However, government actions such as these show us the volatility of this hard-won freedom, the need to remain vigilant so as to not allow history repeat itself,” said the college.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said political weather and whims should not dictate the fate of ABS-CBN or any other media network.

“If this happens to one huge media company, then it will send a chilling effect to other media networks, which can result in a more abysmal state of press freedom, including our access to information and freedom of expression,” said CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia.

International rights group Human Rights Watch said Congress should reject Duterte’s apparent misuse of regulatory powers against ABS-CBN.

Meanwhile, Albano has opposed the call of Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza for resignation of their panel chair, Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, for supposedly “foot-dragging” over the pending bills on the network’s franchise renewal.

“We have a hardworking chairman and the chairman is doing his best considering the very fact that this is not only the franchise bill that was filed in the committee. As vice chairman of the committee, I do regret that kind of statement from a colleague like Rep. Atienza. I respect him, it is his opinion but our opinion is that we don’t need chairman Alvarez to resign,” he stressed.

Atienza, in a spirited privilege speech Monday, noted how the bill seeking the ABS-CBN franchise renewal has been gathering dust at the committee level.

“I am calling the attention of chairman Alvarez. Every day, non-entities, unknown groups of corporations, apply for a franchise and we act on them judiciously, promptly. Why are we dragging our feet on this critical and crucial issue of the franchise renewal of a television network that is part and parcel of our past, present and dependent on the future?” argued Atienza, whose son Kim is a popular host in the network. 

Yesterday, he also claimed being gagged by his colleagues in his pursuit for the franchise’s renewal when the session was adjourned before he could take the podium to deliver another privilege speech. – With Paolo Romero, Helen Flores, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Janvic Mateo, Rhodina Villanueva, Mayen Jaymalin, Emmanuel Tupas