Duterte says he won’t allow ABS-CBN to operate even if given a franchise

MANILA, Philippines — While the tax bureau has said that ABS-CBN is regularly paying taxes, President Rodrigo Duterte insisted that the broadcasting firm won't be allowed to operate even if its franchise is renewed unless its owners settle their unpaid taxes.

Duterte said while it is within Congress' power to grant the television network a fresh franchise, issuing ABS-CBN a license to operate would be like giving a "prize" for a "criminal act" because of its supposed unsettled taxes.

"Congress is planning to restore the franchise of the Lopez. I do not have a problem if you restore it. But if you say that if they can operate...I will not allow them. I will not allow the NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) to grant them the permit to operate," the president said in a pre-recorded public address last Monday.

"Unless and until the Lopezes pay their taxes...  I will ignore your franchise and I will not give them the license to operate. Kalokohan ‘yan (It's nonsense). Parang binigyan mo sila ng (It's like giving them a) prize for...committing criminal acts.

The alleged tax delinquency of ABS-CBN was one of the issues tackled during the congressional hearings on the bill seeking to grant the network a 25-year franchise. During one of the heatings, Bureau of Internal Revenue Assistant Commissioner Manuel Mapoy said ABS-CBN has been regularly paying taxes and that the company has no outstanding delinquent account. The broadcasting firm paid more than P15.3 billion in taxes from 2016 to 2019, the tax official said.

Last July, the House legislative franchises committee rejected the ABS-CBN franchise bill, a move widely seen as an attack on press freedom. The shutdown has forced the network to lay off thousands of its employees while the Philippines is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Deputy Speaker Vilma Santos Recto filed new ABS-CBN franchise bills but some lawmakers admitted that the passage of the measures would require the backing of Malacañang.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has obtained information that ABS-CBN had sold its assets to a SPV or special purpose vehicle, an entity that can restructure debts and undertake other restructuring-related activities. Some of the loans ABS-CBN owed the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) were supposedly condoned and the network was able to acquire its assets, the Palace spokesman added. The DBP has denied writing off or condoning loans in favor of Lopez-controlled firms.

Duterte, who has accused ABS-CBN of spreading "garbage" stories about him during the 2016 polls, claimed Congress had started a probe on the matter but stopped when the issue already involved the Lopezes, the family that owns the network.

"So we have a problem there. This (information) reached me in official capacity... I think I'll pass it on to the Ombudsman. For me, the Ombudsman is the most independent body that can solve this," he added.

Roque said the Ombudsman would conduct a review to determine "if there is a course of action for any violation of our anti-graft law."