Senate President Vicente Sotto III assured on Saturday that the Upper Chamber will not rush the grant of an extended franchise to ABS-CBN or any other organizations.
In a statement, the Senate leader maintained that they will stick to legislative procedures under the Constitution with regards to giving franchises to public utilities.
He said senators “would not be stampeded into resorting to short-cuts in the performance of their duties.”
“We follow specific procedures in granting franchises. We cannot do away with certain steps to fast-track the process, or else we can be unjustly accused of currying favors to specific parties,” Sotto said.
“We will maintain an unbiased treatment to organizations asking for renewal of their franchise,” he added.
Sotto issued the statement amid claims that the Senate is giving preferential treatment to ABS-CBN amid moves from the government to stop its operations.
The Senate public services committee, led by Senator Grace Poe, last Monday held a hearing into the alleged violations committed by the broadcast network.
In a recent interview, Poe dismissed claims that she was biased towards ABS-CBN whose talents include her mother, veteran actress Susan Roces.
“I am only one of 24 senators. Whatever I say, even if I am for it or against it, if the majority will not side with my opinion, it will not prevail,” Poe told ANC last Wednesday.
She previously promised to wait for the House of Representatives’ transmittal of the network’s franchise renewal as the mandated by the Constitution.
Sotto had also defended Poe’s decision to push through with the hearing, saying it was within her authority as public services committee chair.
“We were elected to serve and protect the interest of our people, not the interest of a few, and we vow to always be faithful to our sworn oaths,” Sotto said on Saturday. (Vanne Elaine P. Terrazola)
http://tempo.com.ph/2020/02/29/sotto-no-rush-in-abs-cbn-franchise-grant/
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Lawmaker: Congress should act quickly on ABS-CBN franchise
FORMER Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez said yesterday that congress should act quickly on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.
“I don’t understand why they’re not acting on it quickly. They should conduct committee hearing then move on,” Benitez who is also the convenor of the Visayan Bloc pointed out.
The ABS-CBN issue is in congress and for the past couple of days the discussion has accelerated on the franchise and there are people against it while some are supporting it. The latest is Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Benitez said the Visayan Bloc and every congressman is in agreement that it should be tackled by congress whether to grant the renewal of the franchise or not it should be subject to deliberation when they hear it in the house.
“How can you make a decision when you don’t hear about the alleged violation. Let’s hear them first,” Benitez further said.
Meanwhile Benitez said that the rumors about the plan of some congressmen to oust Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano as Speaker of the House is not true.
“Why create a coup when the end of his term nears unless the president will say something,” Benitez pointed out.
He said that none of the members of the Visayan Bloc support such plan to oust Cayetano.
Cayetano has an agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Alan Velasco of term sharing and that Velasco is set to take-over the Speakership this coming October.
Cayetano claimed he has verified information on a move to oust him from his post.
“Up to this day, I continue to honor the term-sharing agreement brokered by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte when the 18th Congress convened in July 2019. From the beginning, I never had any intention of reneging on this agreement,” he said. (TDE)
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1846401
“I don’t understand why they’re not acting on it quickly. They should conduct committee hearing then move on,” Benitez who is also the convenor of the Visayan Bloc pointed out.
The ABS-CBN issue is in congress and for the past couple of days the discussion has accelerated on the franchise and there are people against it while some are supporting it. The latest is Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Benitez said the Visayan Bloc and every congressman is in agreement that it should be tackled by congress whether to grant the renewal of the franchise or not it should be subject to deliberation when they hear it in the house.
“How can you make a decision when you don’t hear about the alleged violation. Let’s hear them first,” Benitez further said.
Meanwhile Benitez said that the rumors about the plan of some congressmen to oust Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano as Speaker of the House is not true.
“Why create a coup when the end of his term nears unless the president will say something,” Benitez pointed out.
He said that none of the members of the Visayan Bloc support such plan to oust Cayetano.
Cayetano has an agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Alan Velasco of term sharing and that Velasco is set to take-over the Speakership this coming October.
Cayetano claimed he has verified information on a move to oust him from his post.
“Up to this day, I continue to honor the term-sharing agreement brokered by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte when the 18th Congress convened in July 2019. From the beginning, I never had any intention of reneging on this agreement,” he said. (TDE)
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1846401
ABS-CBN ‘requires franchise to operate’
A legal luminary has agreed with former chief justice Reynato Puno’s position that ABS-CBN Corp. cannot operate with an expired franchise, a view that contradicts the opinion of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of San Beda University’s Graduate School of Law, told The Manila Times he was siding with Puno, “and I maintain that ABS-CBN may not operate anymore after expiry of its franchise.”
“The proposition of law is very simple. When the franchise expires, then it ceases the legal authority to operate,” he said.
To support his stand, Puno had cited the 2003 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Associated Communications & Wireless Services vs National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which he penned.
Guevarra, in a guidance letter to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, said since there was precedence and that ABS-CBN had a previous franchise, it could be considered a qualified applicant and could be given provisional authority to operate pending the renewal of its application.
Republic Act 7966, which granted the media giant a 25-year franchise, was enacted on March 30, 1995. It expires on May 4, 2020, following effectivity date, which is 15 days from the date of publication on April 19,1995.
Eleven bills on the network’s franchise renewal are pending at the House Committee on Legislative Franchises. Despite pressure from lawmakers and other groups, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said hearings could start in May or August.
In the meantime, Cayetano said Congress had directed the NTC to grant the network a provisional authority, citing precedence. He claimed that it was an “injustice” to shut the network while the franchise renewal bills were still pending.
Aquino disagreed with the move, saying it was against the Constitution.
“No, it’s not a possibility because there is a doctrine in constitutional law called the Doctrine of Undue Delegation. Congress cannot pass to any administrative agency the powers it has.
And only Congress has the power to grant a franchise. If I maintain your proposition that Congress can ask NTC to extend the life fo the franchise, that would in effect be giving NTC the powers of Congress and that is not allowed,” he said.
“That’s exactly why Congress should have acted on it, prior to its expiration,” he added.
Aquino also pushed back on the proposal for Congress to pass a joint resolution to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN. Joint resolutions have been filed in the House and the Senate, but he reiterated a resolution did not have the same force as a law.
“When Congress wants to pass a law, it must use a statute, it must pass a statute. In other words, it must pass the lower House, it must pass Senate, and then it must be sent to the President for signature,” Aquino said.
“A resolution is not the same as a statute. A resolution is only an expression of collective sentiment. It doesn’t have the same force as a statute,” he continued.
Aquino said the government might also ask the network’s closure if it continues to operate after the franchise expires. He also noted that ABS-CBN faces administrative, civil, and criminal charges such as usurpation if it continues to operate after its franchise expires.
“If Congress does not renew its franchise, the government can always go to Court and ask it to be shut down by wreath of prohibition or any other remedies available,” he said.
Aquino advised the ABS-CBN to go to the Supreme Court to resolve the issue.
“I’m sure they have very good lawyers thinking that out for them and I am sure that they will go to the Supreme Court if they are not content with the actions already pending there,” he said.
“If you ask the Supreme Court to decide and the Supreme Court decides, that’s the end of the story. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter,” Aquino added.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has taken issue with the statements of Puno and another retired Supreme Court justice, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, that the NTC cannot grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.
“This issue on ABS-CBN cannot be decided in a vacuum as the retired justices want Congress to do. Our conscience will not allow us to do that, because the reality is, 11,000 jobs are on the line here,” Drilon said.
The senator said the Supreme Court had held in various cases that “laws and rules should be interpreted and applied not in a vacuum or in isolated abstraction but in light of surrounding circumstances and attendant facts in order to afford justice to all.”
Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said to interpret the issue in a very strict legalistic manner would put at risk the jobs of the network’s 11,000 employees “and the future of their families, without giving an opportunity for a rational discussion.”
He added that there were precedents where various entities were allowed to keep operating even with expired franchises, among them network GMA 7 and telecommunications giant Smart.
“Why, all of a sudden, should we be so strict with ABS-CBN when 11,000 jobs are on the line?” he said.
“Why can we not give Congress more time to decide on this? Is anybody’s interest harmed by the continuation of the operation of ABS-CBN, while the matter is pending in Congress?” Drilon continued.
He said the opinion of the Justice Secretary, as the legal counsel of the executive department, and the NTC, as the implementing agency in charge of telecommunications, should be given due weight and consideration.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/29/news/headlines/abs-cbn-requires-franchise-to-operate/698213/
Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of San Beda University’s Graduate School of Law, told The Manila Times he was siding with Puno, “and I maintain that ABS-CBN may not operate anymore after expiry of its franchise.”
“The proposition of law is very simple. When the franchise expires, then it ceases the legal authority to operate,” he said.
To support his stand, Puno had cited the 2003 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Associated Communications & Wireless Services vs National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which he penned.
Guevarra, in a guidance letter to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, said since there was precedence and that ABS-CBN had a previous franchise, it could be considered a qualified applicant and could be given provisional authority to operate pending the renewal of its application.
Republic Act 7966, which granted the media giant a 25-year franchise, was enacted on March 30, 1995. It expires on May 4, 2020, following effectivity date, which is 15 days from the date of publication on April 19,1995.
Eleven bills on the network’s franchise renewal are pending at the House Committee on Legislative Franchises. Despite pressure from lawmakers and other groups, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said hearings could start in May or August.
In the meantime, Cayetano said Congress had directed the NTC to grant the network a provisional authority, citing precedence. He claimed that it was an “injustice” to shut the network while the franchise renewal bills were still pending.
Aquino disagreed with the move, saying it was against the Constitution.
“No, it’s not a possibility because there is a doctrine in constitutional law called the Doctrine of Undue Delegation. Congress cannot pass to any administrative agency the powers it has.
And only Congress has the power to grant a franchise. If I maintain your proposition that Congress can ask NTC to extend the life fo the franchise, that would in effect be giving NTC the powers of Congress and that is not allowed,” he said.
“That’s exactly why Congress should have acted on it, prior to its expiration,” he added.
Aquino also pushed back on the proposal for Congress to pass a joint resolution to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN. Joint resolutions have been filed in the House and the Senate, but he reiterated a resolution did not have the same force as a law.
“When Congress wants to pass a law, it must use a statute, it must pass a statute. In other words, it must pass the lower House, it must pass Senate, and then it must be sent to the President for signature,” Aquino said.
“A resolution is not the same as a statute. A resolution is only an expression of collective sentiment. It doesn’t have the same force as a statute,” he continued.
Aquino said the government might also ask the network’s closure if it continues to operate after the franchise expires. He also noted that ABS-CBN faces administrative, civil, and criminal charges such as usurpation if it continues to operate after its franchise expires.
“If Congress does not renew its franchise, the government can always go to Court and ask it to be shut down by wreath of prohibition or any other remedies available,” he said.
Aquino advised the ABS-CBN to go to the Supreme Court to resolve the issue.
“I’m sure they have very good lawyers thinking that out for them and I am sure that they will go to the Supreme Court if they are not content with the actions already pending there,” he said.
“If you ask the Supreme Court to decide and the Supreme Court decides, that’s the end of the story. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter,” Aquino added.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has taken issue with the statements of Puno and another retired Supreme Court justice, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, that the NTC cannot grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.
“This issue on ABS-CBN cannot be decided in a vacuum as the retired justices want Congress to do. Our conscience will not allow us to do that, because the reality is, 11,000 jobs are on the line here,” Drilon said.
The senator said the Supreme Court had held in various cases that “laws and rules should be interpreted and applied not in a vacuum or in isolated abstraction but in light of surrounding circumstances and attendant facts in order to afford justice to all.”
Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said to interpret the issue in a very strict legalistic manner would put at risk the jobs of the network’s 11,000 employees “and the future of their families, without giving an opportunity for a rational discussion.”
He added that there were precedents where various entities were allowed to keep operating even with expired franchises, among them network GMA 7 and telecommunications giant Smart.
“Why, all of a sudden, should we be so strict with ABS-CBN when 11,000 jobs are on the line?” he said.
“Why can we not give Congress more time to decide on this? Is anybody’s interest harmed by the continuation of the operation of ABS-CBN, while the matter is pending in Congress?” Drilon continued.
He said the opinion of the Justice Secretary, as the legal counsel of the executive department, and the NTC, as the implementing agency in charge of telecommunications, should be given due weight and consideration.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/29/news/headlines/abs-cbn-requires-franchise-to-operate/698213/
Duterte names MILF founder's son as BTA member, completing Bangsamoro gov't
Abdullah Hashim's appointment to the Bangamoro Transition Authority completes the interim government's required 80 members nearly a year after it was formed in March 2019
Abdullah Hashim, son of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) founder Hashim Salamat, was named the final member of the Bangsamoro interim government, bringing its composition to 80 as required by the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Hashim's name appeared in a new list of presidential appointees released by Malacañang on Friday, February 28. The documents showed Hashim was officially named a member of the Bangamoro Transition Authority (BTA) last February 11, while his appointment papers were released on February 17.
Hashim completes the MILF's nominees to the BTA. Out of the total 80 target BTA members, 41 were nominated by the MILF and named by Duterte, while the government nominated the remaining 39.
His appointment likewise completes all seats in the BTA, nearly a year after it was formed following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Law.
Since the names of the first batch of BTA members were released in March 2019, two BTA members nominated by the MILF have died – MILF leader Ghazali Jaafar and lawyer Abdul Dataya. Jaafar's seat was given to his son Mudjib Abu, while Hashim is Dataya's nephew.
The MILF had long planned to nominate Hashim, BTA Interim Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim earlier told Rappler.
New ambassadors
Also in the list released Friday was Rodolfo Robles, the Philippines' former Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, who will now serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada. His appointment was signed Monday, February 24.
Robles was a former member of the committee tasked with drafting a federal constitution. Aside from this, he was also a nominee to the Supreme Court prior to the Duterte presidency.
Replacing Robles as Permanent Representative to the UN is Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo. – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/nation/252972-abdullah-hashim-bangsamoro-interim-government-member
Abdullah Hashim, son of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) founder Hashim Salamat, was named the final member of the Bangsamoro interim government, bringing its composition to 80 as required by the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Hashim's name appeared in a new list of presidential appointees released by Malacañang on Friday, February 28. The documents showed Hashim was officially named a member of the Bangamoro Transition Authority (BTA) last February 11, while his appointment papers were released on February 17.
Hashim completes the MILF's nominees to the BTA. Out of the total 80 target BTA members, 41 were nominated by the MILF and named by Duterte, while the government nominated the remaining 39.
His appointment likewise completes all seats in the BTA, nearly a year after it was formed following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Law.
Since the names of the first batch of BTA members were released in March 2019, two BTA members nominated by the MILF have died – MILF leader Ghazali Jaafar and lawyer Abdul Dataya. Jaafar's seat was given to his son Mudjib Abu, while Hashim is Dataya's nephew.
The MILF had long planned to nominate Hashim, BTA Interim Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim earlier told Rappler.
New ambassadors
Also in the list released Friday was Rodolfo Robles, the Philippines' former Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, who will now serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada. His appointment was signed Monday, February 24.
Robles was a former member of the committee tasked with drafting a federal constitution. Aside from this, he was also a nominee to the Supreme Court prior to the Duterte presidency.
Replacing Robles as Permanent Representative to the UN is Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo. – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/nation/252972-abdullah-hashim-bangsamoro-interim-government-member