Cayetano has 'personal complaint' over ABS-CBN franchise renewal

But Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano vows there will be 'due process' when the House tackles the bill seeking to renew ABS-CBN's franchise

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said he has a "personal complaint" against the bill that would renew ABS-CBN Corporation's franchise, but he promised the House of Representatives would be fair in tackling the measure.

The Speaker admitted his misgivings about the franchise renewal in an interview on Headstart, a show produced under ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs division and aired over ABS-CBN News Channel, on Monday, November 4.

"People like me, ako may angal din ako. I'll tell you, this is my personal [opinion] ha?" Cayetano told journalist and Headstart host Karen Davila.

(People like me, I have a complaint about it too. I'll tell you, this is my personal opinion, okay?)

"On one hand, I feel that we have to protect the freedom of [the] press and freedom of expression. On the other hand, I feel that [there are] certain instances in history and in the 2016 election na nakialam unjustly some sectors or some leaders of ABS (where some sectors or some leaders of ABS-CBN meddled unjustly). So how do you sort it out?" asked the Taguig City-Pateros congressman.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte himself has repeatedly opposed the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise.

In April 2017, Duterte accused the network of "swindling" him for not airing his paid political advertisements during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Duterte first publicly threatened ABS-CBN days after he signed into law the franchise renewal of its rival, GMA Network. Duterte then repeated his threat to block the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise in August 2018. (READ: Duterte: If it were up to me, no ABS-CBN franchise renewal)

Cayetano was the running mate of Duterte in the 2016 elections, and the latter even endorsed the term-sharing deal for the speakership between Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco.

Despite his personal issues over renewing the legislative franchise given to ABS-CBN, Cayetano said the House would give "due process" to the network when the committee on legislative franchises tackles the bill before the end of 2019.

"Right now, we can debate that, and of course you will stand up for the network. But I'd rather have it in a hearing, diretsuhan (straight to the point), face to face, and talk about it," said Cayetano.

"I'll just assure the public, whether they are for or against ABS-CBN, that we will do it with due process and we will find a conclusion that is acceptable to everyone but will be good for the country. Remember, may Senate at Presidente pa (we still have the Senate and the President)," the Speaker added.

ABS-CBN's current franchise, which was approved through Republic Act No. 7966 on March 30, 1995, is set to expire on March 30, 2020. If the bill renewing the franchise does not get signed into law, ABS-CBN would have to close down its radio and television operations.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/244116-cayetano-personal-complaint-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-but-vows-due-process

Cayetano vows House ‘will be fair’ in treating ABS-CBN application for franchise extension

By Ben Rosario

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday gave his guarantee that the House of Representatives “will be fair” in its treatment of the application for legislative franchise extension of broadcast giant ABS-CBN.

One of the country’s largest networks and multi-media firms owned by the Lopez family, which had earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte, will have to go off the air by March 2020, unless its expiring legislative franchise is extended by Congress.

In a television interview with ABS-CBN’s Karen Davila Monday, Cayetano said the chairpersons of various committees in the Lower House have been directed to focus and dispose of all priority bills.

“It is our duty to be fair,” stressed Cayetano during the interview.

Davila raised the ABS-CBN franchise issue near the end of her interview with the House leader on ANC, specifically with three minutes left in her program.

“I have to ask you, the ABS-CBN franchise will be tackled before the end of 2019, I mean the bill (has been) sitting there for months?” she asked.

The ANC senior journalist also pointed out that at least five bills have already been filed calling for a 25-year extension of the ABS-CBN legislative franchise.

Cayetano candidly stated that there “are real issues” raised against the ABS-CBN that requires the Lower House to conduct a hearing “so that the public knows sino ba ang tama’t mali (who’s right or wrong).”

“And I’m not referring to the President kasi ‘di ba the President said na he will file an objection, he said his last term ‘no? So that’s between ABS-CBN and the president because I’m sure may legitimate criticism ang Pangulo,” explained Cayetano.

The House leader said he also harbors personal issues against the network.
“On one hand, I feel that we have to protect the freedom of the press and freedom of expression. On the other hand, I feel there’s certain instances in history and in the 2016 election na naki-alam unjustly some sectors or some leaders of ABS, so how do you sort it out?” he said in the interview.

Cayetano said: “I’ll just assure the public whether they are for or against ABS, that we will do it with due process and we will find a conclusion that is acceptable to everyone but will be good for the country.”

He then pointed out that after the Lower House, where legislative franchise bills should emanate, the ABS-CBN franchise application will still have to pass Senate and Malacanang approval within the next four months.

During its last hearing in September, the House legislative franchise panel approved three legislative franchise applications, one of which was vehemently objected to by several congressmen representing the power sector.

The ABS-CBN franchise extension bill was not included in the September 11 agenda.

Alvarez admitted that he was waiting for the go-signal from the House leadership before his committee could take up the controversial franchise measure.

Also approved by the House panel were the new franchise applications of Lanao del Norte Electric Cooperative and the Bicol Light and Power Corporation (BLPC) which was also tainted with controversy.

ABS-CBN’s application for a 25-year franchise extension was not calendared for discussion in the last hearing.

Owned by the Lopez family, ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise is due to expire by March 30, 2020. Non-renewal of the license to operate will force the network to close shop.

The network will have to cease operating as a broadcast network if Congress fails to act on a franchise extension before the expiration date set by Republic Act 7966, its current legislative license.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/11/04/cayetano-vows-house-will-be-fair-in-treating-abs-cbn-application-for-franchise-extension/

(Update) It would renew their franchise, the network will have to continue operate as a broadcast network, the broadcast giant eyes the revival of UHF entertainment channel Studio 23 and the transfer of Sports and Action to channel 51. Studio 23 was a sister network of the Network itself and airing programming aimed towards young adults, such as North American imports and other English-language programming, and original Tagalog programming.

Disaster Resilience Department bill’s OK seen before Christmas break

There is  a big chance that a bill  proposing the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) would  be approved before Congress  goes on  Christmas break next month.

Senate  President  Vicente  Sotto  III raised this  possibility  on Monday as he underscored its  importance amid a series of disasters that recently hit parts of  the  country.

Sotto, one of the authors of the proposed measure  in the Senate,  believes that its approval is long over due.

“Ang national disaster, hindi nakakapaghintay (National disasters can’t wait),” he said over DZMM.

Asked  about the bill’s chance of  getting approved before the Christmas break on December 20, the Senate leader said: “A very big chance, talagang kailangang-kailangan (this is really necessary).

“Malaki ang posibilidad, at malaki rin ang posibilidad na mapirmahan ng Presidente ito (There’s a big possibility, and a big possibility also  that  this would be signed by the President)”, Sotto said.

Under his Senate  Bill No. 245,  the DDR would  become the  primary government institution tasked  to ensure “safe, adaptive, and disaster-resilient communities.”

“Unlike the existing institutional arrangement that encompasses the very wide range of both natural and human-induced disasters, the Department shall focus on natural hazards and climate change,” Sotto said in the bill’s explanatory note.

A key feature of this measure   is  a “clear system of responsibility for disaster preparedness and response classified into four levels – from Levels 1 to 4 or from the municipal/city mayor all the way up to the Secretary of Disaster Resilience.”

“This directly answers the oft-repeated question in times of disaster: Who is in charge?”  he said.

“This system of assigning levels of responsibility is aimed at ensuring unity of command and effective collaboration in the country’s disaster resilience efforts,”  he pointed out. /gsg

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1185392/disaster-resilience-department-bills-ok-seen-before-christmas-break

MBC "Bagong taon, bagong milyon 2020"

PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY​

To join the promo, participants should indicate on a piece of paper their complete name, age, address, contact number (if any), and signature.

Place entry inside a white, legal-sized envelope and enclose any one (1) of the required proof-of-purchases.

On the outside of the envelope indicate promo title “BAGONG TAON BAGONG MILYON 2020 ”, the proof-of-purchase (POP) used, and MBC Station-City. The POP as indicated on the outside of the envelope must match the actual POP used with the entry.

Participants may mail their entries OR drop in drop boxes located at MBC regular stations or Radyo Natin Stations in their area.

​​For Mega Manila residents, participants may mail their entries to “BAGONG TAON BAGONG MILYON 2020”, c/o DZRH, 90.7 LOVE RADIO, 101.1 YES The Best! OR 96.3 EASYROCK, MBC Building, Sotto St., CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, or drop entries at the drop boxes located at the foregoing address.

​​

There is no limit to the number of entries a participant can send.

​​

Participant must be at least 18 years old or above to be eligible to join.

​​

Participant may win only once in each weekly draw per area.

​​

To join the promo, participants should indicate on a piece of paper their complete name, age, address, contact number (if any), and signature.

​​MBC Regular Stations

​

DZRH

Aksyon Radyo

Love Radio

Yes The Best!

Easy Rock

​

Radyo Natin Network

​

100 Stations nationwide



PROOF-OF-PURCHASE (POP):

​​

MILO®

Two (2) empty sachets of MILO® 22g or

One (1) empty pack, any size  (220g, 300g, 600g, or 1kg)

(Only packaging with expiration date May 2020 onwards are accepted)

​

BEAR BRAND® FORTIFIED POWDERED MILK DRINK

One (1) empty pack, any size (33g, 60g, 99g, 150g, 320g, 700g, 900g, 1.2kg, 1.6kg, or 2kg)

BEAR BRAND® FORTIFIED CHOCO MILK DRINK

One (1) empty pack, any size (29g, 150g, 300g, or 900g)

BEAR BRAND® FORTIFIED REAL STRAWBERRY MILK DRINK

One (1) empty pack, any size  (29g, 300g)

(Only packaging with expiration date July 2020 onwards are accepted.)

​

BEAR BRAND® ADULT PLUS

One (1) empty pack, any size (33g, 180g, 300g, 600g, 1kg, or 1.2kg)

BEAR BRAND® ADULT PLUS CHOCO

One (1) empty pack, any size (180g or 600g)

BEAR BRAND® ADULT PLUS MILK DRINK WITH COFFEE 

One (1) empty pack, any size (33g or 300g)

(Only packaging with expiration date July 2020 onwards are accepted.)



COBRA ENERGY DRINK

Three (3) Cobra Returnable Glass Bottle (RGB) 240ml crowns

(any combination)

One (1) label of any Cobra resealable bottle

​

NAPROXEN SODIUM FLANAX

Two empty (2) blister packs of NAPROXEN SODIUM FLANAX

​​

SAN MIGUEL PALE PILSEN

One (1) 2019 marked crown of 320 ml or 1000 ml

GOLD EAGLE BEER

One (1) 2019 marked crown of 320 ml or 1000 ml



UNIQUE TOOTHPASTE

Five (5) sachets of UNIQUE 10ml, or

One (1) box of UNIQUE 50ml, 100ml or 150ml

(Any flavor or variant)



PRIDE DETERGENT

Three (3) sachets of PRIDE Powder 40g, or

One (1) pouch of PRIDE Powder, any size (500g, 1000g or 2000g) or

One (1) wrapper of PRIDE Bar 400g, or

Three (3) wrappers of PRIDE Bar 100g

(Any variant)



STARWAX FLOOR WAX

One (1) box of STARWAX 90g or 180

(Any variant)



SHIELD BATH SOAP

One (1) wrapper of SHIELD 60g, or

One (1) box of SHIELD 90g or 120g

(Any variant)

SMART DISHWASHING

Two (2) sachets of SMART Liquid 50ml, or

One (1) pouch of SMART Liquid 200ml, or

One (1) label wrapper of SMART paste 200g or 400g

(Any variant)



WHITE ROSE KOJIC WHITENING SOAP

One (1) box of WHITE ROSE 60g or 120g


PROMO SCHEDULE

There will be eight (8) weekly draws on MBC Regular Stations and two (2) monthly draws for Radyo Natin Network at 10:00 a.m. of every draw date.

For MBC Regular Stations, the deadlines for submission of entries for weekly draws are each Friday before the draw from November 15, 2019 (Friday) to January 3, 2020 (Friday) until 5:00 p.m. MBC stations will not accept entries beyond this period. Entries received after 5:00 p.m. will be included in the succeeding promo week.


For Radyo Natin Network, the deadline for dropping of entries for the first monthly draw is on December 4 at 5:00 p.m. Entries received after December 4, 2019, 5:00 p.m. will be included in the succeeding monthly draw. Deadline of submission of entries for the second monthly draw and the grand draw will be on December 31, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.

PRIZES:

Weekly Draw Prizes for MBC Regular Stations

Grid 1: Php 2,000 cash x 3 winners per station

Mega Manila: DZRH • 90.7 LOVE RADIO • 101.1 YES the Best! • 96.3 EASYROCK

Grid 2: Php 1,500 cash x 3 winners per Area

Dagupan • Cebu • Iloilo • Bacolod • Cagayan De Oro • Davao • Zamboanga

Grid 3: Php 1,000 cash x 3 winners per Area

Laoag • La Union • Santiago • Cauayan • Baguio • Naga • Lucena • Tacloban General Santos

Grid 4: Php 800 cash x 3 winners per Area

Tuguegarao • Tarlac • Urdaneta • Daet • Legaspi • Palawan • Catarman Catbalogan • Dumaguete • Kalibo • Roxas –Boracay • Butuan • Malaybalay Valencia • Koronadal• Iligan



Radyo Natin Network Monthly Draw Prizes:

1st Prize : 1 winner of P5,000 per area (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao)

2nd Prize: 1 winner of P3,000 per area (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao)

3rd Prize : 1 winners of P2,000 per area (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao)



Grand Draw Prizes:

Grand Prize: 1 winner of Php 1 MILLION PESOS. A ball machine with 4 balls labeled Mega Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao will be used to determine which pile the winner will be drawn

Consolation: 5 winners of Php 10,000 each per area Mega Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao



RAFFLE DRAWS AND DETERMINATION OF WINNERS

 WEEKLY DRAWS FOR MBC REGULAR STATIONS

All entries from MBC Regular stations will be gathered to designated draw stations for each area. For Mega Manila, each station MBC Regular station will have their own draw. (See Weekly Draw Prizes for each area)

All non-winning entries in the weekly draws WILL NOT be included in the succeeding weekly draws but will be included in the Grand Draw.

All non-winning entries shall qualify for the Grand Draw and shall be sent to the following address: MBC Promo Dept., MBC Bldg., Sotto St., CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City for the Grand Draw

MONTHLY DRAWS FOR RADYO NATIN NETWORK

Radyo Natin Stations shall forward all entries received to Radyo Natin Center, MBC Bldg., Sotto St., CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City for each Monthly Draw

All non-winning entries in the monthly draws WILL NOT be included with the entries from MBC Regular Stations for the Grand Draw on January 18, 2020.

GRAND DRAW is on January 18, 2020 (Saturday) at 5:00 p.m. at the Star City Activity Area.

Entries from MBC Regular stations and Radyo Natin stations shall be placed together but segregated into 4 piles: Mega Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This is determined by the station where the entry was dropped as required to be indicated on the outside of the envelope

If a name is drawn more than once in the Grand Draw, he/she shall be awarded the prize with the higher amount and another winner will be drawn for the prize with the smaller amount.

All draws will be done in the presence of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Representative.

Winners will be notified through SMS or registered mail and announced on-air thru respective MBC radio stations.

Winners are required to personally claim their prize by presenting a valid ID and the SMS or registered notice when claiming prizes.

 All raffle prizes should be claimed within sixty (60) days from receipt of notification otherwise such will be forfeited in favor of MBC upon prior approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The twenty percent (20%) TAX on all prizes exceeding P10,000 will be shouldered by the winner. All prizes are non-transferrable.

All employees of MBC and its affiliates, participating sponsors, their advertising agencies and their spouses and relatives up to the 2nd degree of consanguinity or affinity including relatives by legal adoption are excluded from joining the promo.

Promo Period:

Submission of entries is from November 4 to January 3, 2020. Grand Draw is on January 18, 2020.

Why is Robi Domingo being part of Bench anymore?

To recall when TV host and VJ Robi Domingo is no longer a endorser of this clothing line. This is the truth that he did not miss any annual BENCH and BENCH/Body campaign such as summer, back-to-school and holiday and biennial denim and underwear shows.

Sources to newspapers and tabloids when the former Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition Plus runner up and Ateneo de Manila University graduate is no longer renewing his contract with Bench.

He was also took part in "Uncut: A Bold Look at the Future" Denim and Underwear Show at the Araneta Coliseum when he tore his sando in the Furne One's Far East segment.

A Twitter user who said "Nakakatawa yung ginawa ni Robi Domingo sa Bench Uncut."

by the way, hindi na bench endorser si robi no. :( kasi adidas na siya. :lol: Yup, di na po siya Bench endorser.. Tapos na contract niya :) But I believe happy naman si Robi ngayon sa endorsements niya ;)

House resumes session; barangay poll deferment a priority

The House of Representatives will prioritize the bills postponing the barangay polls and extending the availability of some portions of the 2019 budget until next year, according to a House leader, as the chamber resumes session today after a month-long break.

“We aim to hit the ground running on the first day of work. Time to roll up our sleeves once again and work double time on vital legislative measures,” House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said, adding they intend to approve the two measures on third and final reading very soon.

The House approved last month Bill 4933 or the measure that seeks to postpone the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to Dec. 5, 2022, on second reading through a vote of ayes and nays.

This would bring the third postponement of the barangay and SK polls under the Duterte administration. The passing of the measure was one of Duterte’s orders to Congress during his fourth State of the Nation Address in July.

The House committee on appropriations, meanwhile, approved in September House Joint Resolution Nos. 9 and 10, seeking to extend the availability of the 2019 appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlays (CO) to Dec. 31, 2020.

It seeks to amend Section 65 of the general provisions of RA 11260 or the General Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2019, which provides that all appropriations shall be available for release and obligation until Dec. 31, 2019.

Romualdez said the House also aims to discuss and hasten the approval of a pending joint resolution that authorizes the use of the rice subsidy as provided in this year’s P3.757-trillion national budget for the purchase of palay (unhusked rice) from farmers.

So far, the chamber has already passed 18 measures on third reading since the start of the 18th Congress last July 22, including the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget, key tax bills, and amendments to the Foreign Investment Act of 1991 led by Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian.

A key House official has proposed the utilization of the government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act as a way of helping tide farmers over at least while the palay prices are at their lowest.

Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero called on the Departments of Finance and Agriculture to provide farmers a “combination of aid” either in cash or in kind, which is a result of the Rice Tariffication Law.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/11/04/1965754/house-resumes-session-barangay-poll-deferment-priority