During a Senate hearing last February, Public services committee chairman Senator Grace Poe listed previous instances where the renewal of franchises were approved after their expiry date.
"Yan ay maraming halimbawa na kung saan hindi pa tapos ang prangkisa ay nagkaroon pa rin ng apruba ng prangkisa on a temporary basis hanggang matapos ang pagdinig," Poe said in February.
(Those are examples where franchise hearing weren't done yet but there were approvals of franchise on a temporary bases until the discussion on renewal ended.)
National Telecommunications Commissioner (NTC) Gamaliel Cordoba, testifying in the same hearing, acknowledged that in similar instances, broadcast and telecommunication companies were allowed to operate past their franchise validity.
"Meron po kasing mga cases before na ang nangyari while na legislative process ay umaandar, nangyari po ang pag end or pag lapse ng franchise ng mga pending committee bills of franchise, ay tumuloy naman po ito, but that was based on the opinion of the House of Representatives and the Senate," Cordoba said.
(There were cases before where, when the legislative process are on-going, once the franchise ends, they continued to operate.)
Under the law, Congress has the exclusive authority to grant, deny, extend or revoke broadcast franchises.
List of precedents where franchises were approved and firms were allowed to operate past their expiry dates:
- GMA Network Inc - Franchise expired on March 20,2017 but the renewal application was signed April 21, 2017
- TV5 Network Inc - Franchise expired on December 9, 2019 but the new franchise bill was signed on April 2019
- Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines - Franchise expired in 2017 but its new franchise was approved 2 years after in 2019
- Subic Broadcasting Corp - The franchise expired in 2017 while the renewal was approved in 2018
- Radio Marine Network Inc - Franchise validity lasted until 2018 while its new franchise was approved in 2019
- Smart Communications - Franchise lapsed on March 2017, new franchise was approved in April 2017
- Innove Communications, Inc. - Franchise expired in April 10, 2017, new franchise was approved Dec. 14, 2018
- Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp (PT&T) - Franchise expired in 2015, while the renewal bill lapsed into law in 2016
Solicitor General Jose Calida on Sunday warned the NTC against issuing a provisional authority to ABS-CBN, saying there was no law granting the agency to grant franchises. Calida earlier questioned the validity of ABS-CBN's franchise before the Supreme Court.
The NTC earlier said all live permits to operate and maintain broadcast and pay-TV facilities that would expire during the quarantine period would be automatically renewed. The licenses will be valid for 60 days from the end of the quarantine period.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/06/20/list-broadcast-firms-telcos-allowed-to-operate-beyond-franchise-validity
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