The House of Representatives is at fault for failing to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise, a move that led to the company’s shutdown, Solicitor General Jose Calida insisted today.
He said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which sent the media company a cease and desist order, isn’t to blame.
“Why blame [the] NTC when they are only following the law,” Calida said in his statement, adding that without a valid franchise from Congress, the commission cannot allow any broadcasting company to operate in the Philippines.
The solicitor general’s statement comes a day after ABS-CBN was forced to go off air, which led to a widespread public furor that flooded social media.
Read: Actor Coco Martin lashes out at NTC, Calida’s ‘jackassery’ over ABS-CBN shutdown
“The bill renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise has been pending in Congress since 2016. The question we should be asking is, why hasn’t Congress acted on it? Who is at fault here?” Calida asked.
At least 11 bills that sought to grant a new franchise to the company have been filed and remain pending before the House of Representatives. House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano had put off discussing the franchise renewal, saying in February that there was plenty of time to talk about ABS-CBN’s expiring license and insisted that Congress had more pressing matters to discuss.
Calida, for his part, had filed a petition that same month to the Supreme Court to declare the embattled network’s franchise void, alleging that ABS-CBN was a foreign-owned entity. An allegation that the broadcast network has denied, saying that it allows foreign investments, but is 100% Filipino-owned.
A day before the media network’s franchise was set to expire—and on World Press Freedom Day no less—Calida warned the NTC that granting ABS-CBN the provisional authority to operate would make NTC commissioners liable for graft charges. NTC promised in early March to give ABS-CBN temporary authority to operate while the network awaited the House to grant it a new 25-year franchise.
Read: NTC may face graft charges if it grants ABS-CBN provisional license, says SolGen Calida
In the same statement, Calida insisted that the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) “has the duty to advise the NTC of what is legal or not. We will be abdicating our duty to the NTC if we don’t advise them of the legal consequences of their actions.”
“The exercise by the NTC of its regulatory power is in accordance with the principle of rule of law. Nobody is sacred. Even a powerful and influential corporation must follow the law,” Calida added.
In a bit of a head-scratcher, however, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday reiterated that the media giant could keep operating despite its franchise expiring that day.
“The Department of Justice stands by its position that there is sufficient equitable basis to allow broadcast entities to continue operating while the bills for the renewal of their franchise remain pending with Congress,” Guevarra said.
In an interview last night with the ABS-CBN news program TV Patrol before the company signed off, Guevarra said that allowing a registered company to operate while waiting for a franchise renewal is not illegal. Guevarra reiterated that the country has no laws that fit the media company’s current predicament, whose lapsed franchise renewal remains neither approved or rejected and as such, considerations should be given.
“In the interest of fairness, as NTC has done in the past in the case of PT&T, Smart Communications, etc. where they did not issue any cease and desist order, and allow these companies to continue operating. [These companies] already have franchises but needed renewal, which Congress had not yet acted on,” Guevarra said, adding that he had likewise advised NTC on the issue.
“I have already given my advice, and it is up to them whether or not to heed my advice. The legal position of the OSG, and the position of DOJ, you can say it can go either way.”
“For OSG, the law may be harsh, but that’s the law, so to speak. If you don’t have a franchise, then sorry, that’s the law. The DOJ’s position is different. That principle only applies when a company that has no franchise whatsoever seeks for a [provisional] permit from the NTC, and that is not allowed,” the justice secretary said.
However, Guevarra added that in the case with ABS-CBN, which has operated and invested in its people but whose renewal has been postponed by Congress, “then in my point of view and the interest of fairness, the company didn’t have any shortcomings. Principles of equity dictate that the company should be allowed to operate until Congress acts on it.”
The station’s forced shutdown took its 42 TV stations as well as 23 FM and AM radio stations off the air last night, including flagship TV station Channel 2 and radio station DZMM.
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