ABS-CBN ‘requires franchise to operate’

A legal luminary has agreed with former chief justice Reynato Puno’s position that ABS-CBN Corp. cannot operate with an expired franchise, a view that contradicts the opinion of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of San Beda University’s Graduate School of Law, told The Manila Times he was siding with Puno, “and I maintain that ABS-CBN may not operate anymore after expiry of its franchise.”

“The proposition of law is very simple. When the franchise expires, then it ceases the legal authority to operate,” he said.

To support his stand, Puno had cited the 2003 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Associated Communications & Wireless Services vs National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which he penned.

Guevarra, in a guidance letter to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, said since there was precedence and that ABS-CBN had a previous franchise, it could be considered a qualified applicant and could be given provisional authority to operate pending the renewal of its application.

Republic Act 7966, which granted the media giant a 25-year franchise, was enacted on March 30, 1995. It expires on May 4, 2020, following effectivity date, which is 15 days from the date of publication on April 19,1995.

Eleven bills on the network’s franchise renewal are pending at the House Committee on Legislative Franchises. Despite pressure from lawmakers and other groups, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said hearings could start in May or August.

In the meantime, Cayetano said Congress had directed the NTC to grant the network a provisional authority, citing precedence. He claimed that it was an “injustice” to shut the network while the franchise renewal bills were still pending.

Aquino disagreed with the move, saying it was against the Constitution.

“No, it’s not a possibility because there is a doctrine in constitutional law called the Doctrine of Undue Delegation. Congress cannot pass to any administrative agency the powers it has.

And only Congress has the power to grant a franchise. If I maintain your proposition that Congress can ask NTC to extend the life fo the franchise, that would in effect be giving NTC the powers of Congress and that is not allowed,” he said.

“That’s exactly why Congress should have acted on it, prior to its expiration,” he added.

Aquino also pushed back on the proposal for Congress to pass a joint resolution to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN. Joint resolutions have been filed in the House and the Senate, but he reiterated a resolution did not have the same force as a law.

“When Congress wants to pass a law, it must use a statute, it must pass a statute. In other words, it must pass the lower House, it must pass Senate, and then it must be sent to the President for signature,” Aquino said.

“A resolution is not the same as a statute. A resolution is only an expression of collective sentiment. It doesn’t have the same force as a statute,” he continued.

Aquino said the government might also ask the network’s closure if it continues to operate after the franchise expires. He also noted that ABS-CBN faces administrative, civil, and criminal charges such as usurpation if it continues to operate after its franchise expires.

“If Congress does not renew its franchise, the government can always go to Court and ask it to be shut down by wreath of prohibition or any other remedies available,” he said.
Aquino advised the ABS-CBN to go to the Supreme Court to resolve the issue.

“I’m sure they have very good lawyers thinking that out for them and I am sure that they will go to the Supreme Court if they are not content with the actions already pending there,” he said.

“If you ask the Supreme Court to decide and the Supreme Court decides, that’s the end of the story. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter,” Aquino added.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has taken issue with the statements of Puno and another retired Supreme Court justice, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, that the NTC cannot grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.

“This issue on ABS-CBN cannot be decided in a vacuum as the retired justices want Congress to do. Our conscience will not allow us to do that, because the reality is, 11,000 jobs are on the line here,” Drilon said.

The senator said the Supreme Court had held in various cases that “laws and rules should be interpreted and applied not in a vacuum or in isolated abstraction but in light of surrounding circumstances and attendant facts in order to afford justice to all.”

Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said to interpret the issue in a very strict legalistic manner would put at risk the jobs of the network’s 11,000 employees “and the future of their families, without giving an opportunity for a rational discussion.”

He added that there were precedents where various entities were allowed to keep operating even with expired franchises, among them network GMA 7 and telecommunications giant Smart.

“Why, all of a sudden, should we be so strict with ABS-CBN when 11,000 jobs are on the line?” he said.

“Why can we not give Congress more time to decide on this? Is anybody’s interest harmed by the continuation of the operation of ABS-CBN, while the matter is pending in Congress?” Drilon continued.

He said the opinion of the Justice Secretary, as the legal counsel of the executive department, and the NTC, as the implementing agency in charge of telecommunications, should be given due weight and consideration.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/29/news/headlines/abs-cbn-requires-franchise-to-operate/698213/