Carpio to Congress: Craft law for companies to operate pending franchise renewal

A former Supreme Court justice has suggested that Congress craft a law that would let companies continue operations pending renewal of their respective franchises.

Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio floated the idea as the House of Representatives commenced Tuesday its deliberations on the controversial franchise renewal case of media giant ABS-CBN.

“My proposal is Congress should pass a law saying that when a franchise is about to expire, but it’s still pending renewal in Congress, then the franchise is deemed extended until Congress finally acts on it. The Congress should enact a general law, not just ABS-CBN, because that’s class legislation,” Carpio told CNN Philippines’ The Source.

The former magistrate said the move will be the viable option, as he believes the lower chamber does not have the authority to compel the National Telecommunications Commission to issue a temporary permit to ABS-CBN. The House committee on legislative franchises earlier asked the NTC to let the network stay on air pending legislative action on the twelve renewal measures.

Carpio, echoing the sentiment of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, stressed there is a need for an existing franchise before one can earn provisional authority.

“In the first place, there is a separation of power. Secondly, a provisional authority is given only if there is a franchise,” Carpio added.

Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio: Congress should pass a general law that in case a franchise is about to expire and an application for renewal has been filed, then it is deemed extended until the lawmakers finally resolve to approve or disapprove the application pic.twitter.com/cq3nwCVCLA

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) March 10, 2020

Carpio’s statement was shared by lawyer Larry Gadon, who petitioned the high court last week to ask the House to recall their provisional authority request with NTC. Gadon also sought a temporary restraining order that would prohibit NTC from complying with the House's February directive.

Conflicting views on provisional authority

While Carpio and Puno believe ABS-CBN cannot operate without a renewed franchise, some government officials dished out different views.

Some lawmakers earlier allayed concerns over the network’s looming shutdown, saying the media company can still broadcast news and content as there are pending renewal measures in Congress.

This was backed by the Justice Department, which said that there is "sufficient equitable basis" to allow media companies to operate while their measures are being tackled in legislature, as the practice has been done in the past.

A 1994 agreement between the House of Representatives, the NTC, and the media group Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas also provides a mechanism for media entities with expiring Congressional franchises.

The memorandum of understanding states that the NTC "shall continue to issue and grant permits or authorizations to operate" for radio and TV stations for a two-year period as long as there is a pending bill seeking to renew their franchise.

ABS-CBN’s renewal case was thrust back into the spotlight following a quo warranto petition of Solicitor General Jose Calida, who sought to nullify the network’s existing franchise over alleged foreign ownership and operational violations. The network has since debunked the claims.

Carpio, meanwhile, said Calida’s plea is “immaterial” for now, with ABS-CBN’s franchise set to expire on May 4.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/3/10/Carpio-ABS-CBN-franchise-renewal-pass-law-NTC.html