Biz groups call for 'balanced, fair, timely' deliberation on ABS-CBN franchise

Four business groups on Tuesday called for a "balanced, fair, and timely" deliberation on bills filed on Congress to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp.

In a joint statement, the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), the Makati Business Club (MBC), and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) urged Congress to take into consideration freedom of the press.

"We the undersigned business organizations express our strong support for a balanced, fair, and timely consideration of the bills filed by several lawmakers on the renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation's broadcasting franchise," the statement read.

"We fervently urge Congress to judiciously address any issues raised against the company while taking serious account of the bedrock issues of media freedom and free enterprise, which allow businesses to flourish for the overall welfare of our economy and our people," it added.

Earlier this month, the government — led by Solicitor General Jose Calida — filed a quo warranto petition against the broadcast network and asked the Supreme Court to drop the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary ABS-CBN Convergence Inc.

"We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefitting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years," Calida said in a statement.

ABS-CBN lost P258.593 million in market capitalization after trading closed that day.

The petition was filed even as the company's franchise granted by Congress was set to expire in March, with bills seeking to renew the franchise still pending.

For its part, ABS-CBN maintained that it did not violate the law, contrary to claims made by Calida, slamming the petition as "ill-timed."

Malacañang has since denied having a hand in the government's petition, with presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo saying President Rodrigo Duterte had "nothing to do" with the legal action.

Duterte had consistently threatened to oppose the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise, as he claimed the network did not air political advertisements during the 2016 election campaign which were already paid for.

Meanwhile, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday claimed the issue with the ABS-CBN franchise is not about press freedom, as he said ABS-CBN supposedly took sides and favored certain candidates during the 2010 and 2016 elections. —KBK, GMA News

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