Cayetano urged to 'immediately' conduct House hearings on ABS-CBN franchise

At least 14 lawmakers on Tuesday urged House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to "immediately convene" the chamber's committee on legislative franchises to tackle ABS-CBN's bid for a fresh 25-year license to operate, a week after it was forced off air by the country's telecoms body.

Cayetano earlier said the committee would conduct hearings that are "fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive," but he did not say when.

The group of lawmakers said it was now the chamber's "primary duty and responsibility to put an end to the uncertainties and confusion" on the network's franchise.

"We understand that there are more important measures that the House leadership has to attend to in this extraordinary time. However, we believe too that resolving the ABS-CBN issue the soonest is equally important given the impact, economically and politically, of its continued shutdown in this time of crisis," they said in a letter to Cayetano.

ABS-CBN halted its broadcast operations last week after the National Telecommunications Commission went back on its commitment to allow the network to operate beyond its lapsed franchise.

The cease-and-desist order from the NTC came a few days after the Office of the Solicitor General warned the telecoms body against issuing a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.

READ: Letter to Speaker Cayetano and Joint Statement of Authors of ABS-CBN Franchise bills to register strong frustrations with the non-issuance of a provisional authority to the network by the National Telecommunications Commission pic.twitter.com/eNB1zcuO0J

— RG Cruz (@R_G_Cruz888) May 12, 2020

In a joint statement, the lawmakers said they "take strong exceptions to NTC’s trickery and the Office of the Solicitor General’s interventionist action."

"The Committee and the House are now being blamed and vilified for the shutdown of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers," they said.

"That the citizenry also lost one of their main sources of credible and efficient news and information in this time of crisis brought by the COVID-10 pandemic was also largely blamed on our chamber."

Among lawmakers who signed the petition are:

• Pangasinan 3rd District Rep. Rose Marie Arenas
• Surigao Del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel
• Batangas 6th District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto
• Bayan Muna Partylist Representatives Carlos Zarate, Eufemia Cullamat, Ferdinand Gaite
• Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas
• ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro
• Laguna 3rd District Rep. Sol Aragones
• Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez
• Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato
• Paranaque 2nd District Rep. Joy Tambunting
• Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago
• Nueva Ecija 2nd SItrict Rep. Micaela Violago

Rodriguez last week filed a joint resolution that would grant ABS-CBN a temporary franchise until the end of the 18th Congress or June 30, 2022. At least 13 senators have filed a measure seeking the same.

ABS-CBN has asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the NTC's order.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/20/cayetano-urged-to-immediately-conduct-house-hearings-on-abs-cbn-franchise