SC defers discussion on ABS-CBN franchise to April 14
TUGUEGARAO, Philippines (Updated 5:48 p.m.) — The Supreme Court again deferred action on the government’s quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN franchise to April 14, three weeks before its current franchise expires.
An ABS-CBN report with unnamed sources said the SC en banc did not give reasons why it will tackle Solicitor General Jose Calida’s plea for the revocation of the media giant’s franchise during its summer session in Baguio City.
SC spokesperson Brian Hosaka confirmed this to reporters in a message. "The case will again be included in the agenda of the court on April 14, 2020 when it starts its summer session in Baguio," Hosaka said.
Hosaka said that the "Justices need more time to further study the case."
ABS-CBN’s franchise will expire on May 4.
This is the second time that the SC is deferring deliberations on the petition. Hosaka said February 26 that Calida’s legal challenge will be taken up again on March 10.
Calida’s petition
Calida accused the network and subsidiary ABS-CBN Convergence of "unlawfully exercising their legislative franchises, Republic Act 7966 and 8332" in a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court.
Among the allegations thrown by Calida against the network are foreign ownership, illegal operations of its pay-per-view channel Kapamilya Box Office and illegal transfer of subsidiary Multi-Media Telephony’s franchise to Convergence.
The network, in its Comment, said that the petition must be dismissed because the SC has no jurisdiction over its legislative franchise.
ABS-CBN also said that the quo warranto petition lacks merit as it denied the violations that Calida, the government's top lawyer, has alleged.
Congress proceedings
The House Committee on Legislative Franchises meanwhile started its hearing into ABS-CBN’s renewal of franchise also on Tuesday afternoon.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Rep. Franz Alvarez (Palawan), who leads the House panel on legislative franchises, wrote to the National Telecommunications Commission to ask it to issue a provisional authority to the network to operate “from May 4, 2020 until such time that the Congress has made a decision on its application.”
Lawyer Larry Gadon challenged this in a Petition for Prohibition filed before the SC. He asked the SC to issue a writ of prohibition to order and direct Cayetano and Alvarez to recall their letter to the NTC “for being violative of the doctrine of separation of powers of the government and issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.”
Gadon argued that under the Constitution, the Congress holds the power to grant, modify, renew or repeal a legislative franchise.
He said that Cayetano and Alvarez “acted in excess of their authorities and jurisdiction.”
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