Congress holds key to ABS-CBN franchise

CONGRESS could come up with a resolution authorizing the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to issue a temporary permit so that ABS-CBN Corp. could continue operating if lawmakers fail to renew its franchise this year, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Monday.

Guevarra made the point during the Senate inquiry to determine if the media giant violated its franchise. He clarified that the franchise expires on May 4, not on March 30, as was widely believed.

He said based on the principle of equity or fairness, ABS-CBN could still operate even after its 25-year franchise expires.

This can happen if the Senate passes a concurrent resolution authorizing the NTC to issue a provisional permit to ABS-CBN based on “equitable considerations.”

Guevarra pointed this out after Sen. Mary Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, enumerated instances when the NTC allowed franchise holders to continue to operate after the expiration of their permits.

She said the franchise of another broadcast network, GMA, lapsed on March 20, 2017, but the renewal was signed on April 21, 2017.

Similarly, TV5’s franchise expired in December 2019, but the network ran under a temporary permit until April 2019.

Poe said the radio franchise of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines expired in 2017, but the renewal was signed only in 2019.

Interviewed after the hearing, Guevarra said the NTC has no basis in granting provisional authority, but it has long been the practice.

The practice was merely rooted in equitable considerations “that’s why it would be better to have a basis,” he added.

He said it does not matter if the resolution is a joint one or not. “The important thing is there is a basis.”

During the hearing, Guevarra made it clear that “when there is a gap in the law, equity comes in to fill the gap. Equity is the principle by which substantial justice may be attained in cases where the prescribed and customary forms of ordinary laws are inadequate.”

In explaining that ABS-CBN’s franchise will expire on May 4, Guevarra noted that Section 15 of Republic Act 7966, the law that approved the franchise, provides that the approval became effective 15 days from date of publication in at least two newspapers of general publication.

“Based on facts available to us, the franchise was published on April 19, 1995. For that reason the franchise will expire on May 4, 2020,” he said.

During the hearing, Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros urged the network’s leadership to prioritize the welfare of its workers by regularizing their contractual employees.

“We need a pro-worker franchise,” she said as she compelled ABS-CBN to commit to improving labor practices, settling contractualization issues and providing job security to workers once the franchise is renewed.

Only 300 of ABS-CBN’s 7,000 regular employees are union members. The rest, classified as confidential employees, enjoy wages that are 50 percent higher than union members.

Jobs

Mario Carlo Nepomuceno, head of the ABS-CBN Corporate Services Department, said apart from the regular employees, other workers such as those under the ABS-CBN Foundation and the ABS-CBN Global would lose their jobs once ABS-CBN ceases operations.

“Kapag nawala po ang funding at donasyon mula sa ABS-CBN foundation, malamang po ang 400 employees ng ABS-CBN Foundation ay mawawalan na ng trabaho, ganun din po ang nasa ABS-CBN Global that transmit through its Filipino Channel abroad the various programs of the network,” he continued.

Carlo Katigbak, ABS-CBN president and chief executive officer, who was also at the hearing, said during the period of its franchise, the network delivered a service that was meaningful and valuable to the Filipino people.

“Our TV shows entertain, inform and inspire our audience, and, in a recent Pulse Asia survey, 70 percent of all Filipinos tuned in to ABS-CBN last year. That to us is a validation that the shows we produce remain important and relevant to the public,” he added.

“While our commitment to serve is genuine, we also acknowledge that we are not a perfect organization. Where we have shortcomings, we acknowledge them, and we work to correct them,” he said.

Katigbak stressed that ABS-CBN did not break the law or violated any of the provisions of its franchise. WITH JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/25/news/headlines/congress-holds-key-to-abs-cbn-franchise/695963/