Lawmakers have affixed their signature on House Resolution No. 639 initiated by Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman which called on the Committee on Legislative Franchises to “report out without further delay for plenary action” a consolidated measure seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation.
Under the resolution, the members and leaders of the House were urged to “respect the freedom of the press as an indispensable component of freedom of expression and free speech.”
Aside from Lagman, the 10 others who signed the resolution are the following:
- Nueva Ecija 2nd District Rep. Micaela Violago
- Parañaque City 2nd District Rep. Joy Myra
- Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel
- Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Doy Leachon
- Negros Oriental 1st District Rep. Josie Limkaichong
- Capiz 1st District Rep. Emmanuel Billones
- Quezon City 6th District Rep. Kit Belmonte
- ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro
- Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate
- Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Eufemia Cullamat.
The legislative franchise of ABS CBN is set to expire on March 30, 2020. Congress has only 24 regular session days from January 20 until its adjournment for the Holy Week starting on March 14 to May 3, and measures pushing for the firm’s franchise renewal still languish at the committee level in the House.
It is only after the House approves the measure on third and final reading before the Senate could start tackling it.
Last December, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to block the franchise renewal of the television firm.
“If you are expecting na ma-renew ‘yan (franchise), I am sorry. I will see to it that you are out,” Duterte said on Dec. 3.
He also told the Lopez family, which is the controlling owner of the publicly-listed company, to just sell off the media network.
“If I were you, just sell it. Because it’s only now that the Filipino can retaliate against your abuses. And I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever,” he said.
Lagman said the threats of the President against the renewal of the ABS-CBN’s franchise “due to his personal grievances” “constitute prior restraint on press freedom.”
He cited a previous Supreme Court decision on Chavez vs. Gonzales and National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) which found the warnings of then Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzales and NTC for radio and television media not to air the purported wiretapped “Garci tapes” to have a “chilling effect” on press freedom and constituted prior restraint on the exercise of freedom of speech and of the press.
The Albay lawmaker also pointed out that the ABS-CBN franchise is “inextricably linked to the exercise of press freedom” and any delay or arbitrary denial of a franchise renewal emasculates freedom of the press.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1209511/11-solons-urge-house-panel-to-move-forward-with-abs-cbn-franchise
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