Dati-rati, ang mga boses lamang ni Mike Enriquez at ng GMA-7 voice-over announcer na si Al Torres ang naririnig natin na nagsasabi ng "Maraming salamat, Kapuso."
Pero ngayong Miyerkoles, May 6, ang ABS-CBN ang nagsabi ng “Maraming salamat, Kapuso."
Ito ay bilang pasasalamat sa Kapuso personalities na nagpahayag ng suporta at simpatiya sa matinding pagsubok na pinagdaraanan ng Kapamilya Network.
Ipinasara ng National Telecommunications Commission ang ABS-CBN kahapon, May 5.
Sina Lovi Poe, Gabbi Garcia, Maine Mendoza, Bea Binene, Kara David, Janine Gutierrez, at Julie Anne San Jose ang ilan sa mga Kapuso personalities na pinasalamatan ng ABS-CBN, sa pamamagitan ng isang news article, dahil sa kanilang mga social media post na pagpapakita ng suporta at pakikiisa.
Bahagi ng artikulo na inilabas ng ABS-CBN News na may headline na "Kapuso celebs send red, green, blue hearts in solidarity with ABS-CBN":
"As the Kapamilya network signed off Tuesday in compliance with cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission, personalities from rival station GMA-7, too, were among those who expressed support for ABS-CBN's continued service.
"The show of solidarity ranged from calling out the attack on press freedom, to messages of hope that ABS-CBN will overcome the challenge — most of them with heart emojis in red, green, and blue, symbolizing the network."
Ipinaabot din ng ABS-CBN executive na si Charo Santos-Concio ang pasasalamat sa lahat, gamit ang kanyang Instagram account.
"Maraming-maraming salamat sa inyong pagmamahal at suporta. Hanggang sa muli," mensahe ni Charo, na may hashtag na #InTheServiceOfTheFilipino.
https://www.pep.ph/pepalerts/cabinet-files/151263/abs-cbn-thanks-kapuso-a734-20200506
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
NTC under fire for halt order vs ABS-CBN
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is under fire from lawmakers after issuing a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN.
In appearances at hearings of both the House and the Senate, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Corodoba told lawmakers it could issue a provisional authority allowing the network to remain on air
upon the recommendation of Congress.
“If mangyari po yung sinabi ni Secretary of Justice na magkaroon kami ng authority from Congress to issue a provisional authority, then the frequency of ABS-CBN will be retained while the renewal is pending," Cordoba said during the hearing.
In his legal opinion, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had pointed out the cases of Smart Communications, PT&T, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, which were allowed to operate despite expired franchises but had pending applications for renewals.
In those cases, the NTC neither issued a provisional authority or cease and desist orders.
On Tuesday, the chairperson of the House legislative franchises committee warned the NTC that it would be summoned to explain why it should not be held in contempt should it renege on its commitment to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to continue operations.
The Solicitor General's "pressure" for the NTC not to issue the network provisional permit to operate "directly challenges" Congress' exclusive authority over broadcast franchises, according to Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Alvarez.
Calida warns NTC against issuing provisional authority to ABS-CBN, affiliates
"If the NTC chooses to succumb to the pressure of the Solicitor General, and disregard the commitments they gave under oath, we reserve the right to call them before Congress and explain why they should not be held in contempt," Alvarez said in a statement.
"We have recently been made aware of efforts by the Solicitor General to pressure the (NTC) to go against the ruling of the Department of Justice, which states that ABS-CBN may continue to broadcast while Congress deliberates on the renewal of its franchise."
"We would like to make it clear that Congress takes this matter very seriously...," Alvarez said.
The Solicitor General, according to Alvarez, "should have the decency to give Congress this courtesy to complete the exercise of its power," noting that his committee already began deliberations on the broadcast company's application for franchise renewal before adjourning in March.
He said that enjoining NTC to allow ABS-CBN to operate until Congress finally decides on its franchise application is necessary to give lawmakers "sufficient time" to assess.
The committee would not be "dictated upon" by any agency on the "manner, schedule, and conduct of it’s official business," he said.
In March, the NTC said it would issue a provisional authority to allow ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries to operate until June 2022, while Congress deliberates on the network's franchise renewal bid.
"The power of Congress to legislate is complete, full, and plenary. A legislative franchise is a law and by deciding whether to grant or deny a franchise, it is passing a law and making policy," Alvarez reiterated.
"With the legal opinion of the Department of Justice and the authority given by the House of Representatives, there is no reason for ABS-CBN to discontinue or stop their operations until we make a final decision."
ABS-CBN's franchise expired Monday, May 4.
The NTC earlier issued a memorandum allowing the automatic renewal of expiring permits of broadcast and pay TV facilities during the enhanced community quarantine.
The Luzon lockdown ended on April 30 but the measure was extended in Metro Manila until May 15 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/20/ntc-under-fire-for-halt-order-vs-abs-cbn
In appearances at hearings of both the House and the Senate, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Corodoba told lawmakers it could issue a provisional authority allowing the network to remain on air
upon the recommendation of Congress.
“If mangyari po yung sinabi ni Secretary of Justice na magkaroon kami ng authority from Congress to issue a provisional authority, then the frequency of ABS-CBN will be retained while the renewal is pending," Cordoba said during the hearing.
In his legal opinion, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had pointed out the cases of Smart Communications, PT&T, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, which were allowed to operate despite expired franchises but had pending applications for renewals.
In those cases, the NTC neither issued a provisional authority or cease and desist orders.
On Tuesday, the chairperson of the House legislative franchises committee warned the NTC that it would be summoned to explain why it should not be held in contempt should it renege on its commitment to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to continue operations.
The Solicitor General's "pressure" for the NTC not to issue the network provisional permit to operate "directly challenges" Congress' exclusive authority over broadcast franchises, according to Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Alvarez.
Calida warns NTC against issuing provisional authority to ABS-CBN, affiliates
"If the NTC chooses to succumb to the pressure of the Solicitor General, and disregard the commitments they gave under oath, we reserve the right to call them before Congress and explain why they should not be held in contempt," Alvarez said in a statement.
"We have recently been made aware of efforts by the Solicitor General to pressure the (NTC) to go against the ruling of the Department of Justice, which states that ABS-CBN may continue to broadcast while Congress deliberates on the renewal of its franchise."
"We would like to make it clear that Congress takes this matter very seriously...," Alvarez said.
The Solicitor General, according to Alvarez, "should have the decency to give Congress this courtesy to complete the exercise of its power," noting that his committee already began deliberations on the broadcast company's application for franchise renewal before adjourning in March.
He said that enjoining NTC to allow ABS-CBN to operate until Congress finally decides on its franchise application is necessary to give lawmakers "sufficient time" to assess.
The committee would not be "dictated upon" by any agency on the "manner, schedule, and conduct of it’s official business," he said.
In March, the NTC said it would issue a provisional authority to allow ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries to operate until June 2022, while Congress deliberates on the network's franchise renewal bid.
"The power of Congress to legislate is complete, full, and plenary. A legislative franchise is a law and by deciding whether to grant or deny a franchise, it is passing a law and making policy," Alvarez reiterated.
"With the legal opinion of the Department of Justice and the authority given by the House of Representatives, there is no reason for ABS-CBN to discontinue or stop their operations until we make a final decision."
ABS-CBN's franchise expired Monday, May 4.
The NTC earlier issued a memorandum allowing the automatic renewal of expiring permits of broadcast and pay TV facilities during the enhanced community quarantine.
The Luzon lockdown ended on April 30 but the measure was extended in Metro Manila until May 15 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/20/ntc-under-fire-for-halt-order-vs-abs-cbn
LIST: Broadcast firms, telcos allowed to operate beyond franchise validity
There are precedents in allowing ABS-CBN to operate after its franchise expired on May 4, based on previous cases of broadcast and telecommunications companies.
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:
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
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
OPINION: Silence is not an option on ABS-CBN shutdown
The last time the curtains went down on ABS-CBN was when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972.
One of the tyrant’s first moves in imposing one-man rule was to close down news outfits on print, radio, and television.
Journalists were jailed, tortured, or killed. ABS-CBN president Geny Lopez spent five years in detention without trial. Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto stepped in and took over the company assets.
In the print media, other cronies of the dictator would assume ownership of newspapers, presiding over a tame press until the advent of the mosquito press -- small, independent (sometimes, underground) publications,
Journalists like Joe Burgos and others risked repeated arrests and raids, and the confiscation of print runs, to shatter the silence, to shine a light on the many areas of corruption and abuse – and growing people’s resistance.
The growth of the mosquito press kept pace with the expanding anti-dictatorship movement in the national capital and the provinces, drawing in young journalists. Even in the crony media, journalists started pushing at the censors’ gates, playing a cat-and-mouse game with Marcos' minions in the Armed Forces.
The broadcast facilities that fell into Benedicto’s hands during the Marcos years would later play a major role in the EDSA People Power Revolt of 1986 that ousted the dictator.
After the late June Keithley announced on Radyo Bandido that Marcos had left his presidential palace on the banks of the Pasig River, he appeared on Benedicto’s station, Channel 4, to declare he was not stepping down.
But shortly after, a military rebel contingent captured the station, sending it briefly off the air. When it went live again, Filipinos heard the words, “to serve the people.”
At midnight of the following day, the dictator fled Malacanang as angry citizens massed around its gates.
Veterans, young turks
Thirty-four years after, the country’s largest broadcast network has once more gone on the blink, following a cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The generation of young journalists who saw the dictator fall is now at the helm of ABS-CBN’s Integrated News department. Some have retired.
Angelo Castro, the deep-voiced face and voice of the English newscast, The World Tonight, who manned the People Power rebel station with Keithley, his wife, left in 2012 for the afterlife.
Ging Reyes, the executive producer and head writer of “The World Tonight,” now heads the network’s Integrated News Department.
Since her 2010 return from the United States, where she headed the network’s North America bureau, Reyes has urged colleagues to fuse heart and mind in telling the story of the Filipino.
Under her leadership, younger journalists have stepped into the spotlight, winning awards and accolades with a combination of gritty news-gathering, incisive analysis, and lyrical story-telling.
Jeff Canoy won the prestigious Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature contest for his 2017 “Buhay Pa Kami (We Are Still Alive): Dispatches from Marawi,” a long-form piece on the brutal five-month-long siege of the Southern Philippines Islamic City, written for ABS-CBN News Digital.
His Marawi documentary with fellow journalist Chiara Zambrano also bagged a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals and the country’s first Gold Dolphin for Best Documentary for Current Affairs, Human Concerns, and Social Issues Category at the 9th Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards in France.
Former print journalist Christian Esguerra is an unflappable, calm but sharp interviewer and anchor of the ANC “Early Edition” and has since branched out to podcast with “Matters of Fact”.
Canoy was named the 2018 Marshall McLuhan fellow by the Embassy of Canada and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, following in the footsteps of Lynda Jumilla, who now heads digital media. Esguerra also bagged the 2019 award of distinction from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Most ABS-CBN journalists are savvy in multi-media news production, allowing them to break first on digital platforms while processing reports for the free legacy flagship programs.
ABS-CBN News' special digital report on the Duterte’s war on drugs, written and photographed by multi-media head, Fernando Sepe Jr., won the award for Excellence in Feature Writing at the Society of Publishers in Asia's (SOPA) 2018 Awards for Editorial Excellence.
“Healing the wounds from the drug war” stands among the examples of how Filipino journalists have pushed beyond numbers and statistics to show the real costs on lives of Duterte’s draconian ways.
Government apologists like to hurl the jeer, “dilawan” against ABS-CBN.
But the truth is, like any other credible news organization, the network has earned the ire of a series of Philippine presidents. Duterte’s predecessor, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, once lambasted the network in front of its executives, anchors, and workers.
But only the Duterte government has worked openly to kill the station.
Free flow of information
The NTC had initially promised the House of Representatives and the Senate a provisional franchise for the network while Congress consolidates bills seeking the renewal of its franchise.
But on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, on the eve of the existing franchise’s end, Solicitor-General Jose Calida, known as President Rodrigo Duterte’s hatchet man, threatened to file charges against NTC officials if they made good their pledge.
The NTC caved in.
ABS-CBN journalists assigned to cover all branches of government reported events that culminated with station’s evening sign-off.
They continue working today. ABS-CBN’s digital platforms and its ANC cable news channel are not affected by the closure order. DzMMTeleradyo’s continues on Channel 26 of SkyCable and will stream on the network’s social media platforms.
But the world is not just digital.
Cutting off legacy media affects millions who cannot afford the costs of digital services.
Farmers, workers, poor people trapped in their homes as COVID19 continues to rampage across the country, still depend on radio and free television channels to get crucial information needed to protect their families’ health and rights.
Two million Bayan Patrollers, citizen journalists trained in media literacy and reporting, know that in many provinces, corrupt and negligent officials are best moved to action and reforms when news hits free TV and radio.
“Living in an area where cable networks hardly operate, majority of our towns in Lanao del Sur especially in far-flung areas tuned in to ABS-CBN because it’s the only channel their makeshift TV antennas could reach. They, too, have rights to accurate information,” Bangsamoro Parliament member Zia Alonto Adiong, the government spokesman during the Marawi crisis, pointed out on Twitter.
Whatever finger-pointing antics the day holds, one thing is clear: The closure of ABS-CBN leaves a big scar on the landscape where critical, vetted information should flow free, especially in an era of disinformation.
The network’s sign-off should also be seen in the context of incessant attacks on press freedom in this country, under a President who has insulted, abused, cut off journalists since even before he assumed office.
Rappler’s editors continue to battle assorted criminal cases that could affect their operations. Its reporters and correspondents are banned from covering the President. Alternative news outfits are tagged as terrorists; at least two senior reporters have been arrested and deliberate hacking attempts have tried to bring down their news platforms.
Journalists also continue to die in the Philippines. As ABS-CBN signed off, five men gunned down Dumaguete-based broadcaster and dyMD Energy 93.7 FM anchorman Rex Cornelio. He was the third journalist and broadcaster murdered in Dumaguete in as many years, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
“If Cornelio's killing is proven to be work-related, he would be the 16th journalist slain under President Rodrigo Duterte and the 188th since 1986,” said the NUJP.
The government’s general stance on dissent has grown increasingly draconian, with national officials dragging in militant organizations, big non-profit and church groups, and political parties, in a never-ending round of conspiracies lumping together hot-button issues like destabilization and terrorism.
Disinformation can fool people sometimes. But it can’t fool all the people all the time, to paraphrase music legend Bob Marley.
Between the time TV Patrol went on air till midnight on the day it temporarily went dark, more than a million tweets demanded an end to the shutdown of ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN’s chief executive officer Carlo Katigbak vows the network will be back, nor will it allow the setback to stop delivery of important news and entertainment to millions of Filipinos.
TV Patrol anchor Noli de Castro ended the program fighting words: “We will not be silenced despite this attack on our democracy and press freedom. In the face of this challenge facing our company and livelihood, we will not turn our backs on you.”
The Filipino people have thrown off the yoke of tyranny before. It takes collective action, with media and the public working together in defense of democracy. This nation knows silence is not an option. That way lies disaster, an open highway to abuse, corruption and massive trampling of our rights.
Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of ABS-CBN Corp.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/05/06/20/opinion-silence-is-not-an-option-on-abs-cbn-shutdown
One of the tyrant’s first moves in imposing one-man rule was to close down news outfits on print, radio, and television.
Journalists were jailed, tortured, or killed. ABS-CBN president Geny Lopez spent five years in detention without trial. Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto stepped in and took over the company assets.
In the print media, other cronies of the dictator would assume ownership of newspapers, presiding over a tame press until the advent of the mosquito press -- small, independent (sometimes, underground) publications,
Journalists like Joe Burgos and others risked repeated arrests and raids, and the confiscation of print runs, to shatter the silence, to shine a light on the many areas of corruption and abuse – and growing people’s resistance.
The growth of the mosquito press kept pace with the expanding anti-dictatorship movement in the national capital and the provinces, drawing in young journalists. Even in the crony media, journalists started pushing at the censors’ gates, playing a cat-and-mouse game with Marcos' minions in the Armed Forces.
The broadcast facilities that fell into Benedicto’s hands during the Marcos years would later play a major role in the EDSA People Power Revolt of 1986 that ousted the dictator.
After the late June Keithley announced on Radyo Bandido that Marcos had left his presidential palace on the banks of the Pasig River, he appeared on Benedicto’s station, Channel 4, to declare he was not stepping down.
But shortly after, a military rebel contingent captured the station, sending it briefly off the air. When it went live again, Filipinos heard the words, “to serve the people.”
At midnight of the following day, the dictator fled Malacanang as angry citizens massed around its gates.
Veterans, young turks
Thirty-four years after, the country’s largest broadcast network has once more gone on the blink, following a cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The generation of young journalists who saw the dictator fall is now at the helm of ABS-CBN’s Integrated News department. Some have retired.
Angelo Castro, the deep-voiced face and voice of the English newscast, The World Tonight, who manned the People Power rebel station with Keithley, his wife, left in 2012 for the afterlife.
Ging Reyes, the executive producer and head writer of “The World Tonight,” now heads the network’s Integrated News Department.
Since her 2010 return from the United States, where she headed the network’s North America bureau, Reyes has urged colleagues to fuse heart and mind in telling the story of the Filipino.
Under her leadership, younger journalists have stepped into the spotlight, winning awards and accolades with a combination of gritty news-gathering, incisive analysis, and lyrical story-telling.
Jeff Canoy won the prestigious Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature contest for his 2017 “Buhay Pa Kami (We Are Still Alive): Dispatches from Marawi,” a long-form piece on the brutal five-month-long siege of the Southern Philippines Islamic City, written for ABS-CBN News Digital.
His Marawi documentary with fellow journalist Chiara Zambrano also bagged a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals and the country’s first Gold Dolphin for Best Documentary for Current Affairs, Human Concerns, and Social Issues Category at the 9th Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards in France.
Former print journalist Christian Esguerra is an unflappable, calm but sharp interviewer and anchor of the ANC “Early Edition” and has since branched out to podcast with “Matters of Fact”.
Canoy was named the 2018 Marshall McLuhan fellow by the Embassy of Canada and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, following in the footsteps of Lynda Jumilla, who now heads digital media. Esguerra also bagged the 2019 award of distinction from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Most ABS-CBN journalists are savvy in multi-media news production, allowing them to break first on digital platforms while processing reports for the free legacy flagship programs.
ABS-CBN News' special digital report on the Duterte’s war on drugs, written and photographed by multi-media head, Fernando Sepe Jr., won the award for Excellence in Feature Writing at the Society of Publishers in Asia's (SOPA) 2018 Awards for Editorial Excellence.
“Healing the wounds from the drug war” stands among the examples of how Filipino journalists have pushed beyond numbers and statistics to show the real costs on lives of Duterte’s draconian ways.
Government apologists like to hurl the jeer, “dilawan” against ABS-CBN.
But the truth is, like any other credible news organization, the network has earned the ire of a series of Philippine presidents. Duterte’s predecessor, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, once lambasted the network in front of its executives, anchors, and workers.
But only the Duterte government has worked openly to kill the station.
Free flow of information
The NTC had initially promised the House of Representatives and the Senate a provisional franchise for the network while Congress consolidates bills seeking the renewal of its franchise.
But on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, on the eve of the existing franchise’s end, Solicitor-General Jose Calida, known as President Rodrigo Duterte’s hatchet man, threatened to file charges against NTC officials if they made good their pledge.
The NTC caved in.
ABS-CBN journalists assigned to cover all branches of government reported events that culminated with station’s evening sign-off.
They continue working today. ABS-CBN’s digital platforms and its ANC cable news channel are not affected by the closure order. DzMMTeleradyo’s continues on Channel 26 of SkyCable and will stream on the network’s social media platforms.
But the world is not just digital.
Cutting off legacy media affects millions who cannot afford the costs of digital services.
Farmers, workers, poor people trapped in their homes as COVID19 continues to rampage across the country, still depend on radio and free television channels to get crucial information needed to protect their families’ health and rights.
Two million Bayan Patrollers, citizen journalists trained in media literacy and reporting, know that in many provinces, corrupt and negligent officials are best moved to action and reforms when news hits free TV and radio.
“Living in an area where cable networks hardly operate, majority of our towns in Lanao del Sur especially in far-flung areas tuned in to ABS-CBN because it’s the only channel their makeshift TV antennas could reach. They, too, have rights to accurate information,” Bangsamoro Parliament member Zia Alonto Adiong, the government spokesman during the Marawi crisis, pointed out on Twitter.
Whatever finger-pointing antics the day holds, one thing is clear: The closure of ABS-CBN leaves a big scar on the landscape where critical, vetted information should flow free, especially in an era of disinformation.
The network’s sign-off should also be seen in the context of incessant attacks on press freedom in this country, under a President who has insulted, abused, cut off journalists since even before he assumed office.
Rappler’s editors continue to battle assorted criminal cases that could affect their operations. Its reporters and correspondents are banned from covering the President. Alternative news outfits are tagged as terrorists; at least two senior reporters have been arrested and deliberate hacking attempts have tried to bring down their news platforms.
Journalists also continue to die in the Philippines. As ABS-CBN signed off, five men gunned down Dumaguete-based broadcaster and dyMD Energy 93.7 FM anchorman Rex Cornelio. He was the third journalist and broadcaster murdered in Dumaguete in as many years, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
“If Cornelio's killing is proven to be work-related, he would be the 16th journalist slain under President Rodrigo Duterte and the 188th since 1986,” said the NUJP.
The government’s general stance on dissent has grown increasingly draconian, with national officials dragging in militant organizations, big non-profit and church groups, and political parties, in a never-ending round of conspiracies lumping together hot-button issues like destabilization and terrorism.
Disinformation can fool people sometimes. But it can’t fool all the people all the time, to paraphrase music legend Bob Marley.
Between the time TV Patrol went on air till midnight on the day it temporarily went dark, more than a million tweets demanded an end to the shutdown of ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN’s chief executive officer Carlo Katigbak vows the network will be back, nor will it allow the setback to stop delivery of important news and entertainment to millions of Filipinos.
The Filipino people have thrown off the yoke of tyranny before. It takes collective action, with media and the public working together in defense of democracy. This nation knows silence is not an option. That way lies disaster, an open highway to abuse, corruption and massive trampling of our rights.
Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of ABS-CBN Corp.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/05/06/20/opinion-silence-is-not-an-option-on-abs-cbn-shutdown
ABS-CBN vows comeback after being shut down by government
 |
| ‘KEEP US IN YOUR THOUGHTS’ ABS-CBN employees light candles in solidarity as the network’s darkest hour came on Tuesday night. —EDWIN BACASMAS |
The NTC issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) to the network earlier on Tuesday, a day after the network’s 25-year franchise had expired.
The network went off the air at 7:52 p.m., at the close of its flagship news program, “TV Patrol.”
It was the first time ABS-CBN was forced by the government to shut down since it was padlocked in September 1972 when dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law.
NTC assurance
In March, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba assured members of the House of Representatives that the agency would heed the advice of the Department of Justice to allow ABS-CBN to operate while its franchise renewal was pending in Congress.
But on Sunday, Solicitor General Jose Calida, who earlier filed a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN to have the network’s franchise revoked, warned the NTC against granting a provisional authority to the broadcaster.
Cordoba and Deputy Commissioners Edgardo V. Cabarios and Delilah Deles signed the NTC order on ABS-CBN to “stop operating its various TV and radio broadcasting stations nationwide.”
Cabarios denied that the NTC was pressured by Calida.
He explained that the issue was “the validity of the franchise” and that its legal team had “deemed it proper to issue a CDO” despite Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra’s position that broadcast entities could continue operating while their franchise renewals were pending in Congress.
He cited Republic Act No. 3846, or the Radio Control Law that was last amended in the 1950s, which said “no person, firm, company, association or corporation shall construct, install, establish, or operate a radio station within the Philippine Islands without having first obtained a franchise therefor from the Philippine Legislature.”
Despite its diversification into high-speed broadband, theme parks as well as international and digital productions, ABS-CBN still relies on advertising from its TV business for about half of its revenues, which hit P40 billion in 2018.
Prior to signing off, network executives thanked the public and its 11,000 employees.
“At the start of the enhanced community quarantine, many of you continued to go to work, to maintain our broadcast,” Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of ABS-CBN, told company employees.
He said the network “has done everything and has not violated any laws,” in having its franchise renewed and Congress had acknowledged its importance.
“If we have been important to you, keep us in your thoughts, in honor of all our employees,” Katigbak said.
Company chair Mark Lopez said it was painful to go off the air, but the company was not losing hope.
“Help us continue to pray, so that ABS-CBN can go back on air, and continue to serve,” he said.
Emotional Noli
Former vice president and longtime TV Patrol anchor Noli de Castro was emotional.
“We will not be silenced despite this attack on our democracy and press freedom. In the face of this challenge facing our company and livelihood, we will not turn our backs on you. We, you, are ABS-CBN,” De Castro said in Filipino.
The ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) and the network’s social media accounts remain active.
The moves by the NTC and Calida came amid the new coronavirus pandemic that had shuttered most of the economy and regular government functions.
It followed President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to shut the network down over a feud with its owners that supposedly began when the TV network failed to air his advertisements during the 2016 election campaign.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon condemned the order, saying the NTC gravely abused its discretion.
ABS-CBN could challenge the NTC order at the Supreme Court, which could issue a temporary restraining order, he said.
“The Supreme Court itself has said provisional authority can be authorized to be issued where the application for the renewal of the franchise is pending,” said Drilon, a former justice secretary.
No basis
At the House of Representatives, Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, the head of the committee on franchises, said there was no basis for the NTC to shut ABS-CBN.
“If the NTC chooses to succumb to the pressure of the solicitor general and disregard the commitments they gave under oath, we reserve the right to call them before Congress and explain why they should not be held in contempt,” he warned.
Calida on Sunday issued a statement saying there was no legal basis for the NTC to authorize ABS-CBN to keep broadcasting with an expired license. He warned the commissioners that they could be prosecuted if they did.
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima in a statement said Calida should be disbarred for threatening to sue NTC officials and “for publicly going against (his) clients.”
The NTC’s order against the network contradicts the resolution separately adopted by both chambers of Congress, which authorized the NTC to let ABS-CBN operate pending the approval of its franchise extension, according to Sen. Sonny Angara.
“I want to express my reservations regarding this because at a time of (a health crisis), people need to be informed by reliable sources,” Angara said. “It’s really disappointing.”
‘Foolishness’
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the country needed “more, not fewer voices of a free and responsible media especially in this time of pandemic when our countrymen need right and complete information.”
Sen. Francis Pangilinan condemned the NTC’s “arbitrary exercise of governmental power.”
“This is foolishness,” he said.
Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, the author of one of the 11 ABS-CBN franchise renewal bills and a former reporter for the network, said she was dismayed and shocked by the NTC’s order.
“I was expecting them to issue provisional authority to ABS-CBN so it could continue airing while the committee on franchises was hearing the application,” she said.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said that the shutdown came just two days after World Press Freedom Day.
“All this stems from President Rodrigo Duterte’s personal vendetta against the network, whose franchise renewal he pledged to block. It sends a clear message: What Duterte wants, Duterte gets. And it is clear, with this brazen move to shut down ABS-CBN, that he intends to silence the critical media and intimidate everyone else into submission,” NUJP chair Nonoy Espina said in a statement.
‘Marcosian delusions’
Human rights group Karapatan said the NTC move was a “blatant attack on press freedom” and “truly abhorrent” as it came during a public health crisis.
“Amid the government’s militarist response to the pandemic, repeated threats of declaring martial law, the rapid shrinking of civic spaces in the country, and an intensified crackdown on dissent, the grave repercussions of the threats against ABS-CBN cannot be ignored. The Duterte regime is desperately fast-tracking its Marcosian delusions of a fascist dictatorship,” it said.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte had accepted an apology from the network regarding the non-airing of his election campaign propaganda and had “left its fate to both houses of Congress.”
Cabarios said in an interview with the Inquirer that the agency’s move to shut down a television network due to a lack of a franchise was unprecedented.
“As far as I can recall, this is the first time,” said Cabarios, who has spent almost four decades at the NTC. “Usually, we issue a CDO for violating the NTC’s rules.”
—WITH REPORTS FROM DJ YAP, MARLON RAMOS, LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND JULIE M. AURELIO
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1270406/govt-shuts-abs-cbn-network-vows-comeback
Philippines forces top media network off air
Duterte is notorious for tangling with media outlets critical of his policies
The Philippines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN was forced off air on Tuesday over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh accusations that the authorities are cracking down on press freedom.
Since running afoul of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, ABS-CBN has seen proposals to extend its franchise languish in Congress as the leader repeatedly attacked the conglomerate in speeches.
Duterte is notorious for tangling with media outlets critical of his policies, sparking concern that press freedoms have been eroded in the Philippines.
"It's painful for us that we are being shut down, but it's also painful for millions of our countrymen who believe that our service is important to them," chairman Mark Lopez told viewers just before the main channel went dark.
Outside the company's broadcast compound, a handful of supporters waved placards against a backdrop of burning candles.
ABS-CBN's 25-year licence expired on Monday, but officials had previously given assurances the radio, TV and internet giant would be allowed to operate provisionally.
However, the National Telecommunications Commission's cease-and-desist order on Tuesday cited the expiration and said the outfit's operators would have to appeal for a return to the airwaves.
Early in his term, Duterte accused the network of failing to broadcast his 2016 campaign advertisements and not returning the payments made for them.
'Dark day'
Pressure groups said the shutdown order was an assault on the right to free speech, as the conglomerate broadcasts news coverage watched by millions daily.
The shutdown also comes as the nation battles to contain the coronavirus pandemic and an accompanying flood of online disinformation.
"This is a very serious blow to press freedom in the Philippines," said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch. "It's hard to think that Duterte doesn't have anything to do with this."
Amnesty International's Butch Olano said the move was "especially reckless as the country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic".
"This is a dark day for media freedom in the Philippines, reminiscent of martial law when the dictatorship seized control over news agencies."
It appeared the broadcaster would get its renewal after publicly apologising to Duterte earlier this year.
However, government lawyer Jose Calida had filed a legal case that sought ABS-CBN's immediate closure.
Although the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case, Calida warned it would be unlawful for the broadcaster to operate after its licence expired.
Several major media outlets have suffered the consequences after battling Duterte.
Journalist Maria Ressa faces years behind bars, after publishing critical stories on her website Rappler - which is now also battling a government closure effort.
Both Rappler and ABS-CBN are accused of violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of mass media outlets, allegations they deny.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/philippines-forces-top-media-network-off-air-1.1588698517164
The Philippines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN was forced off air on Tuesday over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh accusations that the authorities are cracking down on press freedom.
Since running afoul of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, ABS-CBN has seen proposals to extend its franchise languish in Congress as the leader repeatedly attacked the conglomerate in speeches.
Duterte is notorious for tangling with media outlets critical of his policies, sparking concern that press freedoms have been eroded in the Philippines.
"It's painful for us that we are being shut down, but it's also painful for millions of our countrymen who believe that our service is important to them," chairman Mark Lopez told viewers just before the main channel went dark.
Outside the company's broadcast compound, a handful of supporters waved placards against a backdrop of burning candles.
ABS-CBN's 25-year licence expired on Monday, but officials had previously given assurances the radio, TV and internet giant would be allowed to operate provisionally.
However, the National Telecommunications Commission's cease-and-desist order on Tuesday cited the expiration and said the outfit's operators would have to appeal for a return to the airwaves.
Early in his term, Duterte accused the network of failing to broadcast his 2016 campaign advertisements and not returning the payments made for them.
'Dark day'
Pressure groups said the shutdown order was an assault on the right to free speech, as the conglomerate broadcasts news coverage watched by millions daily.
The shutdown also comes as the nation battles to contain the coronavirus pandemic and an accompanying flood of online disinformation.
"This is a very serious blow to press freedom in the Philippines," said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch. "It's hard to think that Duterte doesn't have anything to do with this."
Amnesty International's Butch Olano said the move was "especially reckless as the country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic".
"This is a dark day for media freedom in the Philippines, reminiscent of martial law when the dictatorship seized control over news agencies."
It appeared the broadcaster would get its renewal after publicly apologising to Duterte earlier this year.
However, government lawyer Jose Calida had filed a legal case that sought ABS-CBN's immediate closure.
Although the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case, Calida warned it would be unlawful for the broadcaster to operate after its licence expired.
Several major media outlets have suffered the consequences after battling Duterte.
Journalist Maria Ressa faces years behind bars, after publishing critical stories on her website Rappler - which is now also battling a government closure effort.
Both Rappler and ABS-CBN are accused of violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of mass media outlets, allegations they deny.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/philippines-forces-top-media-network-off-air-1.1588698517164
KBP: Closing down ABS-CBN deprives public of news, relief amid COVID-19 crisis
The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) on Tuesday slammed the decision of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to halt the broadcast operations of ABS-CBN following the expiration of the network’s franchise.
“The decision is unfair not only to the network and the thousands who depend on the network for their livelihood but, even more important, to the millions of people served by the network through its broadcasting activities,” the national association of broadcasters of the Philippines said in a statement.
Closing down ABS-CBN during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could not have come at a worse time, KBP said.
“ABS-CBN is performing a valuable service to the public in the midst of a public service emergency not only by providing important news and information to keep the public safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus but also in giving the public much relief from the mental and emotional pressures of quarantine by continuing to broadcast its entertainment programs,” it said.
“Without warning, both the public and the government are deprived of that service. It creates an unnecessary distraction for both government and the private sector from focusing on saving lives and keeping people safe,” it added.
The KBP urged the government to allow the country’s largest entertainment and media conglomerate to operate under “equitable remedy” while the company’s franchise bills remains pending.
The group also called on Congress to expedite deliberation on ABS-CBN’s franchise bills that have languished at the House of Representatives.
Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier sought the high court to invalidate franchises of ABS-CBN Corp. and ABS-CBN Convergence citing alleged abuses, including supposed violations of restrictions on foreign ownership.
The Lopez-led network, which reaches millions of Filipinos through its television, radio and online platforms, said it had not broken the law in its 65-year service.
“We did not violate the law. This case appears to be an attempt to deprive Filipinos of the services of ABS-CBN,” the company said in a statement.
ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries have more than 11,000 employees.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/20/kbp-closing-down-abs-cbn-deprives-public-of-news-relief-amid-covid-19-crisis
“The decision is unfair not only to the network and the thousands who depend on the network for their livelihood but, even more important, to the millions of people served by the network through its broadcasting activities,” the national association of broadcasters of the Philippines said in a statement.
Closing down ABS-CBN during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could not have come at a worse time, KBP said.
“ABS-CBN is performing a valuable service to the public in the midst of a public service emergency not only by providing important news and information to keep the public safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus but also in giving the public much relief from the mental and emotional pressures of quarantine by continuing to broadcast its entertainment programs,” it said.
“Without warning, both the public and the government are deprived of that service. It creates an unnecessary distraction for both government and the private sector from focusing on saving lives and keeping people safe,” it added.
The KBP urged the government to allow the country’s largest entertainment and media conglomerate to operate under “equitable remedy” while the company’s franchise bills remains pending.
The group also called on Congress to expedite deliberation on ABS-CBN’s franchise bills that have languished at the House of Representatives.
Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier sought the high court to invalidate franchises of ABS-CBN Corp. and ABS-CBN Convergence citing alleged abuses, including supposed violations of restrictions on foreign ownership.
The Lopez-led network, which reaches millions of Filipinos through its television, radio and online platforms, said it had not broken the law in its 65-year service.
“We did not violate the law. This case appears to be an attempt to deprive Filipinos of the services of ABS-CBN,” the company said in a statement.
ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries have more than 11,000 employees.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/20/kbp-closing-down-abs-cbn-deprives-public-of-news-relief-amid-covid-19-crisis
ABS-CBN Corporation: Services
Television
Free to air
- ABS-CBN is the first flagship television network of ABS-CBN Corporation in the Philippines. Its programming is generalist with a locally and foreign-produced shows, ranging from news, current affairs, politics, sports, opinions, features and business, talk, public service, lifestyle, drama, reality, kids, religious, movies and home shopping programs.
- Studio 23 is the second flagship television network of ABS-CBN Corporation in the Philippines.
Digital
- Cinemo airs first-run and blockbuster feature films, original series and made-for-cable movies, sports-focused magazine and documentary series, comedy and occasional concert specials, and documentaries.
- Yey broadcasts animated television series, mostly children's programming, ranging from action to animated comedy.
Bill for Benguet split filed
A BILL creating a second legislative district in Benguet Province has been filed in the Congress.
Benguet caretaker and ACT-CIS Party-list Representative Congressman Eric Go Yap filed Monday evening, May 5, proposed House Bill no. 6615 titled “An Act Reapportioning the Province of Benguet into two Legislative Districts” during the regular session of the House of Representatives.
Yap, in his proposed bill, seeks to reapportion the lone district of Benguet to two districts.
Under the proposed bill, the first legislative district will be composed of Bokod, Itogon, Kabayan, Sablan, Tuba while the towns of Atok, Bakun, Buguias, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Mankayan, and Tublay will compose the second legislative district.
“This bill seeks to ensure equitable representation for the constituents of the province of Benguet in the legislature and the national government by creating a new legislative district,” the resolution added.
Under the proposed bill, the incumbent representative for the lone district of the province will continue to represent and serve the province until the representatives for two districts been elected and qualified.
The Commission of Election is also tasked to issue implementing rules and regulation to carry the implementation of the proposed measure.
Vice Governor Johnny Waguis said the Provincial Board of Benguet requested Yap to file the bill in Congress.
“There will be two votes in the passage of laws in the House. Another, there will be additional funding for the province,” he added.
The lawmaker stated a consultation was scheduled for the proposed measure last March however it didn’t pushed through due to the coronavirus disease crisis.
In 2019, Board Members of Benguet also requested to the late Congressman Nestor Fongwan Sr. to sponsor a bill for the creation of two legislative district of the province.
The Provincial Board resolution said “thirty-two years have passed since the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution and there has been significant development in the country that necessitates the increase of legislative districts especially in a province such as Benguet.”
Before his demise, Fongwan Sr. filed House Bill 05679, “An Act Providing for the Reapportionment of the Province of Benguet into two legislative districts”.
“Benguet has always been represented by one representative in Congress, despite its growth in population and also the corresponding increase in its economy. This fact is disadvantageous to the constituents because a single representative in Congress cannot closely respond to all the needs of the people,” the late Fongwan Sr. said.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1855297/Baguio/Local-News/Bill-for-Benguet-split-filed
Benguet caretaker and ACT-CIS Party-list Representative Congressman Eric Go Yap filed Monday evening, May 5, proposed House Bill no. 6615 titled “An Act Reapportioning the Province of Benguet into two Legislative Districts” during the regular session of the House of Representatives.
Yap, in his proposed bill, seeks to reapportion the lone district of Benguet to two districts.
Under the proposed bill, the first legislative district will be composed of Bokod, Itogon, Kabayan, Sablan, Tuba while the towns of Atok, Bakun, Buguias, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Mankayan, and Tublay will compose the second legislative district.
“This bill seeks to ensure equitable representation for the constituents of the province of Benguet in the legislature and the national government by creating a new legislative district,” the resolution added.
Under the proposed bill, the incumbent representative for the lone district of the province will continue to represent and serve the province until the representatives for two districts been elected and qualified.
The Commission of Election is also tasked to issue implementing rules and regulation to carry the implementation of the proposed measure.
Vice Governor Johnny Waguis said the Provincial Board of Benguet requested Yap to file the bill in Congress.
“There will be two votes in the passage of laws in the House. Another, there will be additional funding for the province,” he added.
The lawmaker stated a consultation was scheduled for the proposed measure last March however it didn’t pushed through due to the coronavirus disease crisis.
In 2019, Board Members of Benguet also requested to the late Congressman Nestor Fongwan Sr. to sponsor a bill for the creation of two legislative district of the province.
The Provincial Board resolution said “thirty-two years have passed since the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution and there has been significant development in the country that necessitates the increase of legislative districts especially in a province such as Benguet.”
Before his demise, Fongwan Sr. filed House Bill 05679, “An Act Providing for the Reapportionment of the Province of Benguet into two legislative districts”.
“Benguet has always been represented by one representative in Congress, despite its growth in population and also the corresponding increase in its economy. This fact is disadvantageous to the constituents because a single representative in Congress cannot closely respond to all the needs of the people,” the late Fongwan Sr. said.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1855297/Baguio/Local-News/Bill-for-Benguet-split-filed
'We will approve it!': Sotto says ABS-CBN franchise renewal should be brought to Senate
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday said upper House approve the franchise renewal of media network ABS-CBN Corporation.
This, after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered ABC-CBN to “cease and desist” from broadcasting on television and radio, one day after the company’s 25-year operating franchise expired.
In a tweet hours after ABS-CBN went off air, Sotto said senators will approve the franchise renewal once it reaches them.
"ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!" he wrote.
"To begin with, it infringes on authority of the legislative branch of government, which is already in the process of deliberating the franchise. It also comes at a time when it has never been more important for government and media to be allies, not adversaries," he said in a statement.
"During this pandemic that continues to threaten the country, our people, and our economy, we need to be sending out vital lifesaving information to our people on a daily basis, something that mass media is in the best position to help us with," Gordon added.
According to Gordon, it is up to the judiciary to decide on any violation of the franchise agreement on the the part of ABS-CBN, if any.
Several other senators have condemned the NTC for stopping broadcast operations of ABS-CBN, months after the latter assured Congress that a provisional authority to operate would be given to the Philippines' largest media network.
NTC issued the order after Solicitor General Jose Calida warned the agency against issuing a temporary permit to operate for ABS-CBN.
Calida has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate ABS-CBN's franchise for its alleged Constitutional violations, but the high court has yet tot rule on the matter.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/20/we-will-approve-it-sotto-says-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-should-be-brought-to-senate
This, after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered ABC-CBN to “cease and desist” from broadcasting on television and radio, one day after the company’s 25-year operating franchise expired.
In a tweet hours after ABS-CBN went off air, Sotto said senators will approve the franchise renewal once it reaches them.
"ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!" he wrote.
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon called the NTC's cease and desist order against ABS-CBN as "a transgression of freedom of speech and expression."ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!— Tito Sotto (@sotto_tito) May 5, 2020
"To begin with, it infringes on authority of the legislative branch of government, which is already in the process of deliberating the franchise. It also comes at a time when it has never been more important for government and media to be allies, not adversaries," he said in a statement.
"During this pandemic that continues to threaten the country, our people, and our economy, we need to be sending out vital lifesaving information to our people on a daily basis, something that mass media is in the best position to help us with," Gordon added.
According to Gordon, it is up to the judiciary to decide on any violation of the franchise agreement on the the part of ABS-CBN, if any.
Several other senators have condemned the NTC for stopping broadcast operations of ABS-CBN, months after the latter assured Congress that a provisional authority to operate would be given to the Philippines' largest media network.
NTC issued the order after Solicitor General Jose Calida warned the agency against issuing a temporary permit to operate for ABS-CBN.
Calida has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate ABS-CBN's franchise for its alleged Constitutional violations, but the high court has yet tot rule on the matter.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/20/we-will-approve-it-sotto-says-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-should-be-brought-to-senate
Philippines largest TV network ABS-CBN ordered shut
ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest television network, has been ordered to cease operations after President Rodrigo Duterte's allies in Congress refused to renew the station's 25-year licence.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the government agency tasked with awarding broadcasting licences said "absent a valid Congressional Franchise, as required by law", the network should stop its various television and radio operations.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said ABS-CBN's license expired on May 4 and gave the station 10 days to respond.
In an interview with ABS-CBN's radio station, DZMM, NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said that the order is "immediately executory", and Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra affirmed the legal opinion.
In a statement, which was first read on-air over DZMM, the ABS-CBN management said that it will abide by the order and will stop operation.
"We did not violate the law. This case appears to be an attempt to deprive Filipinos of the services of ABS-CBN," the company said in a statement.
After ABS-CBN files its response within the next 10 days, a hearing will be scheduled as soon as the coronavirus emergency lockdown in Metro Manila and other areas of the country is lifted.
On Sunday, Duterte's Solicitor-General Jose Calida issued a statement warning the NTC of prosecution if it did not carry out the closure order.
Calida, the top government lawyer, said there was no legal basis to give the company even a provisional licence as it awaited approval from Congress, which resumed its session on Monday after a recess.
Brazen clampdown of the freedom of the press
In a speech at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Congress member Arlene Brosas denounced the order as a "brazen clampdown of the freedom of the press."
Danilo Arao, journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, said that NTC's decision reflects that limits of its independence as a government body under the office of the president.
"This closure order is clearly an attack on press freedom and we should confront this head on. The administration should be exposed as the real enemy of press freedom," he told Al Jazeera.
With the shutdown, an estimated 11,000 employees of the company risk losing their jobs.
Two ABS-CBN employees, who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonimity, said they were in tears when the station signed off after the nightly news.
Since becoming president in June 2016, Duterte repeatedly expressed his disdain towards the television network, which is owned by one of the richest families in the Philippines.
Duterte claimed that ABS-CBN refused to run his political advertisements during the campaign season - allegations denied by the network.
ABS-CBN's coverage of Duterte's so-called war on drugs, which has killed thousands of people, also angered the Philippine president.
On many occasions, Duterte has threatened to block the renewal of the network's franchise, while suggesting the owners should sell the company to break the impasse. At the same time, he insisted his hand-picked leaders in Congress were free to decide on the issue.
Calida, the solicitor-general, maintained that the NTC has no power to issue any such licence to ABS-CBN, citing provisions in the Philippine Constitution which, he said, gave Congress "exclusive powers".
"Although this legislative power may be delegated to administrative agencies through a law, at present, there is no such law giving the NTC or any other agency the power to grant franchises to broadcasting entities."
A 2003 Philippine Supreme Court decision also ruled that the NTC could not issue a provisional permit without the legislature's backing.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines denounced the "dastardly move" of the Duterte administration.
"All this stems from President Rodrigo Duterte's personal vendetta against the network, whose franchise renewal he pledged to block.
"It sends a clear message: What Duterte wants, Duterte gets. And it is clear, with this brazen move to shut down ABS-CBN, that he intends to silence the critical media and intimidate everyone else into submission."
The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) also issued a statement saying the move "is clearly a case of political harassment against a pillar of the Philippine democracy."
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/philippines-largest-tv-network-abs-cbn-ordered-shut-200505084440098.html
In an order issued on Tuesday, the government agency tasked with awarding broadcasting licences said "absent a valid Congressional Franchise, as required by law", the network should stop its various television and radio operations.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said ABS-CBN's license expired on May 4 and gave the station 10 days to respond.
In an interview with ABS-CBN's radio station, DZMM, NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said that the order is "immediately executory", and Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra affirmed the legal opinion.
In a statement, which was first read on-air over DZMM, the ABS-CBN management said that it will abide by the order and will stop operation.
"We did not violate the law. This case appears to be an attempt to deprive Filipinos of the services of ABS-CBN," the company said in a statement.
After ABS-CBN files its response within the next 10 days, a hearing will be scheduled as soon as the coronavirus emergency lockdown in Metro Manila and other areas of the country is lifted.
On Sunday, Duterte's Solicitor-General Jose Calida issued a statement warning the NTC of prosecution if it did not carry out the closure order.
Calida, the top government lawyer, said there was no legal basis to give the company even a provisional licence as it awaited approval from Congress, which resumed its session on Monday after a recess.
Brazen clampdown of the freedom of the press
In a speech at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Congress member Arlene Brosas denounced the order as a "brazen clampdown of the freedom of the press."
Danilo Arao, journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, said that NTC's decision reflects that limits of its independence as a government body under the office of the president.
"This closure order is clearly an attack on press freedom and we should confront this head on. The administration should be exposed as the real enemy of press freedom," he told Al Jazeera.
With the shutdown, an estimated 11,000 employees of the company risk losing their jobs.
Two ABS-CBN employees, who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonimity, said they were in tears when the station signed off after the nightly news.
Since becoming president in June 2016, Duterte repeatedly expressed his disdain towards the television network, which is owned by one of the richest families in the Philippines.
Duterte claimed that ABS-CBN refused to run his political advertisements during the campaign season - allegations denied by the network.
ABS-CBN's coverage of Duterte's so-called war on drugs, which has killed thousands of people, also angered the Philippine president.
On many occasions, Duterte has threatened to block the renewal of the network's franchise, while suggesting the owners should sell the company to break the impasse. At the same time, he insisted his hand-picked leaders in Congress were free to decide on the issue.
Calida, the solicitor-general, maintained that the NTC has no power to issue any such licence to ABS-CBN, citing provisions in the Philippine Constitution which, he said, gave Congress "exclusive powers".
"Although this legislative power may be delegated to administrative agencies through a law, at present, there is no such law giving the NTC or any other agency the power to grant franchises to broadcasting entities."
A 2003 Philippine Supreme Court decision also ruled that the NTC could not issue a provisional permit without the legislature's backing.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines denounced the "dastardly move" of the Duterte administration.
"All this stems from President Rodrigo Duterte's personal vendetta against the network, whose franchise renewal he pledged to block.
"It sends a clear message: What Duterte wants, Duterte gets. And it is clear, with this brazen move to shut down ABS-CBN, that he intends to silence the critical media and intimidate everyone else into submission."
The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) also issued a statement saying the move "is clearly a case of political harassment against a pillar of the Philippine democracy."
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/philippines-largest-tv-network-abs-cbn-ordered-shut-200505084440098.html
ABS-CBN ceases TV and radio broadcast, asks for support from the Filipino people
By Joseph Almer Pedrajas
ABS-CBN, with all its TV and radio stations across the country, has gone off air around 7:50 p.m. of Tuesday.
This came after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease and desist order, directing the network to stop its operations, particularly broadcasting through its stations, after its 25-year congressional franchise expired on May 4.
Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation, called on the Filipino people to continue their support in an address he delivered through TV Patrol, ABS-CBN’s last program before the shut off.
“Mga Kapamilya, kung naging mahalaga sa inyo ang ABS-CBN, hinihingi po namin na tayo ay patuloy na magtulungan para mapanatili ang serbisyong naidudulot ng ating istasyon (To our Kapamilya, if ABS-CBN has become important to you, we ask for your support to be able to keep the service that the station brings),” he said.
“Alang alang po sa sa mahigit 11,000 nagtatrabaho sa ABS-CBN at sa kanilang mga pamilya na maaapektuhan ang kabuhayan. Alang alang po sa milyon-milyong Pilipino na kailangan ang serbisyo ng ABS-CBN, lalong lalo na sa panahon ng pinakamatinding krisis sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo. Lalo na ngayon sa pinakamalalang sakit at gutom (This is for the sake of the 11,000 ABS-CBN workers and their families who will be affected, for the sake of the millions of Filipinos who need ABS-CBN’s service, most especially in this time of crisis in the Philippines and the whole word, in time of grave disease and hunger).”
Mark Lopez, the company’s chairman, added that while the shutdown “pained” them, he was grateful for viewers who have loved and supported them throughout the years.
“Samahan n’yo po kami sa panalangin na muling ibalik ang ABS-CBN upang tuluyan kaming makapaglingkod sa pamilya at sambayanang Pilipino (Join us as we pray for the return of ABS-CBN, so we could continue providing service to your families and the Filipino people),” he said.
After TV Patrol’s three hosts—Ted Failon, Bernadette Sembrano, and Noli de Castro—delivered their extro, the network then signed off by playing the country’s national anthem.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/05/abs-cbn-ceases-tv-and-radio-broadcast-asks-for-support-from-the-filipino-people/
ABS-CBN, with all its TV and radio stations across the country, has gone off air around 7:50 p.m. of Tuesday.
This came after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease and desist order, directing the network to stop its operations, particularly broadcasting through its stations, after its 25-year congressional franchise expired on May 4.
Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation, called on the Filipino people to continue their support in an address he delivered through TV Patrol, ABS-CBN’s last program before the shut off.
“Mga Kapamilya, kung naging mahalaga sa inyo ang ABS-CBN, hinihingi po namin na tayo ay patuloy na magtulungan para mapanatili ang serbisyong naidudulot ng ating istasyon (To our Kapamilya, if ABS-CBN has become important to you, we ask for your support to be able to keep the service that the station brings),” he said.
“Alang alang po sa sa mahigit 11,000 nagtatrabaho sa ABS-CBN at sa kanilang mga pamilya na maaapektuhan ang kabuhayan. Alang alang po sa milyon-milyong Pilipino na kailangan ang serbisyo ng ABS-CBN, lalong lalo na sa panahon ng pinakamatinding krisis sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo. Lalo na ngayon sa pinakamalalang sakit at gutom (This is for the sake of the 11,000 ABS-CBN workers and their families who will be affected, for the sake of the millions of Filipinos who need ABS-CBN’s service, most especially in this time of crisis in the Philippines and the whole word, in time of grave disease and hunger).”
Mark Lopez, the company’s chairman, added that while the shutdown “pained” them, he was grateful for viewers who have loved and supported them throughout the years.
“Samahan n’yo po kami sa panalangin na muling ibalik ang ABS-CBN upang tuluyan kaming makapaglingkod sa pamilya at sambayanang Pilipino (Join us as we pray for the return of ABS-CBN, so we could continue providing service to your families and the Filipino people),” he said.
After TV Patrol’s three hosts—Ted Failon, Bernadette Sembrano, and Noli de Castro—delivered their extro, the network then signed off by playing the country’s national anthem.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/05/abs-cbn-ceases-tv-and-radio-broadcast-asks-for-support-from-the-filipino-people/