Lagman asks House colleagues to act swiftly on approving extension of ABS-CBN franchise

By Ben Rosario

Veteran opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman Monday urged the leadership and membership of the House of Representatives to act swiftly and positively in considering the proposed 25-year extension of the legislative franchise of the network giant, ABS-CBN Corporation.

The Liberal Party stalwart filed House Resolution No. 639 urging the House Committee on Legislative Franchises to “report out without further delay for plenary action” a consolidated version of all pending bills proposing the 25-year renewal of the network’s franchise.

“Any inordinate delay or arbitrary denial of a franchise renewal emasculates freedom of the press,” Lagman added.

Lagman wants the proposed franchise extension be granted by Congress as he pointed out that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “repeated threats” to approve or reject it “constitute prior restraint on press freedom”.

He cited the Supreme Court Ruling in Chavez vs. Gonzales and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that upheld the position of the late Francisco Chavez that assailed warnings by then-Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzales and NTC against the broadcast of the wiretapped “Garci tapes” will subject a broadcast station to closure.

While over 90 percent of the Lower House membership belong to the pro-Duterte majority, Lagman was banking on bipartisan support for ABS-CBN’s cause.

Among the authors of the bill are  Deputy Speakers Johnny Pimentel and Doy Leacho, both PDP-Laban partymates of Duterte; Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales of Pampanga and Vilma Santos,  a former ABS-CBN contract star.

Also backing the bill are the opposition Makabayan bloc and Liberal Party, congressmen.

Duterte had accused the network of failing to stick to the tenets of objectivity in journalism for its alleged unfair news articles against his administration and his 2016 presidential campaign.

He also chided the Lopez-owned network for allegedly not airing his political advertisements notwithstanding the receipt of payment from his campaign headquarters.

Lagman said Duterte’s tirades against ABS-CBN were the apparent reasons for the failure of the legislative franchise committee to act on the pending bills uniformly proposing a 25-year extension for the ABS-CBN franchise which is due to expire on March 20.

The House panel chaired by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez has yet to conduct a single hearing on the legislative proposals.

It will be recalled that, in the 17th Congress, the House panel, chaired by then Paranaque Rep. Gus Tambunting, also failed to take action on the ABS-CBN legislative franchise bills filed then.

Tambunting’s wife, Myra, has since replaced him as Paranaque City congressman.  She was among the administration lawmakers who filed for the extension of the ABS-CBN franchise.

In HR 639, Lagman stressed that “time is of the essence” considering that Congress only has 24 regular sessions before it adjourns for the Holy Week break starting March 14.

He pointed out that the franchise issue “is inextricably linked to the exercise of press freedom>”

Lagman also pointed out that a franchise was required “for reasonable regulation of the operation of radio and television networks, and is never intended to curtail the freedom of the press.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/01/06/lagman-asks-house-colleagues-to-act-swiftly-on-approving-extension-of-abs-cbn-franchise/