Senators air support for ABS-CBN franchise renewal

By Hannah Torregoza

Some senators have expressed their support for the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN Network, which until remains languishing at the House of Representatives.

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said he believes a majority of the members of the Senate are in favor of the franchise renewal of the media network.

Thus, Pangilinan said, there was still time for Congress to approve the measure seeking to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise which is expected to expire on March 30, 2020.

Congress has until March 11 to tackle the measure, before adjourning.

“Press freedom is so much important and ABS-CBN is one of the pillars of press freedom in the country. It’s closure will mean a threat to press freedom,” Pangilinan said.

He also said ABS-CBN was a publicly listed corporation and its stockholders belong to the general public that also prefers the continuation of the network’s operations.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, for his part, said he favored the renewal of their franchise in order to secure the employees of the network who stand to lose their jobs once the franchise of the media network is terminated.

“Thousands of jobs are at stake here. It’s important that we take it (measure) up as soon as possible),” according to Villanueva.

Sen. Imelda “Imee” Marcos also said she was open to the proposal to extend ABS-CBN’s franchise and this should be reviewed carefully by the Senate.

Other senators who have already signified their support for ABS-CBN were Senators Grace Poe and Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/02/09/senators-air-support-for-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal/