Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Palace calls for conscience vote on ABS-CBN franchise as hearings wrap up
Members of Congress should vote on the ABS-CBN franchise issue according to their conscience, Malacañang said Tuesday as lawmakers wrap up this week their hearings on bills seeking to grant the broadcasting network a fresh 25-year license to operate.
President Rodrigo Duterte remains "neutral" on the company's bid for a new franchise, his spokesman Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.
"Humingi na po ng tawad sa kanya, pinatawad na niya," Roque said, referring to the apology offered by ABS-CBN President Carlo Katigbak in February over an aired negative political advertisement in 2016 that offended Duterte.
(They asked for forgiveness and he has forgiven the company.)
"Neutral po siya (Duterte). Vote according to your conscience," added Roque.
While he accepted the apology, Duterte had said he is leaving the fate of ABS-CBN's franchise to Congress.
The President had previously threatened to block ABS-CBN's bid for a new franchise.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday said he too was seeking a "conscience vote" among his colleagues.
ABS-CBN has been off the air for more than two months already since the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on May 5 shut down its free television and radio services.
The NTC committed in March to lawmakers that it will let the network stay on air while Congress deliberates on ABS-CBN's new franchise application.
Last week, the NTC also closed down ABS-CBN's digital broadcast in Metro Manila and its sister company's SKYDirect services, following the advice of Solicitor General Jose Calida, who in February sought to nullify the network's franchise due to alleged abuses.
The Supreme Court has junked Calida's petition, saying the issue has become "moot and academic" as ABS-CBN's previous franchise expired May 4.
news.abs-cbn.com is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.
Fate of ABS-CBN franchise known on Thursday as House hearings end
The congressional inquiry into the ABS-CBN legislative franchise drew to a close near midnight on Monday with the House Committee on Legislative Franchise expected to vote on the network’s franchise application on Thursday.
The closing minutes of the hearings conducted in 12 days, with each day of proceedings lasting for an average of six hours, left a pessimistic note for the giant network that closed operations after its 25-year franchise expired on May 4.
Kabayan Partylist Rep. Ron Salo, one of the principal authors of a bill proposing to grant ABS-CBN another 25 year franchise authority, withdrew authorship of the measure, filed as House Bill 6901.
“My partylist group deems that ABS-CBN failed to successfully rebut the long list of alleged violations, and thus, this representation cannot anymore support the grant of a new franchise,” said Salo, head of the House contingent to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.
Before Salo dropped out as Kapamilya network supporter, ABS-CBN, together with its backers, Reps. Sol Aragones (NPC, Laguna); Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna); Rufus Rodriguez (Independent, Cagayan de Oro City) and Lito Atienza (Buhay Partylist), belied accusations of unfair reporting of its news department and political bias.
ABS-CBN News head Ging Reyes argued strongly against the accusations, assuring the lawmakers that ABS-CBN journalists have strict instructions “to keep biases in check and to report on newsworthy events, persons, and issues in an accurate, fair, and balanced manner.”
“Rest assured po na iisa po ang ating layunin na mapangalagaan ang moral at spiritual values ng pamilyang Pilipino (Rest assured our only goal is to maintain the moral and spiritual values of the Filipino family) ” ABS-CBN chief operating officer of broadcast Cory Vidanes told lawmakers.
“We tell po stories that teach life lessons and our stories po embody Filipino values, like hard work, honesty, respect, resilience, and most of all love for family, country, and God, dahil ang sentro ng aming mga kwento ay ang pamilyang Pilipino (… because the center of our story is the Filipino family),” Vidanes added.
ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak denied that the network entertained political bias during election campaign periods, stressing that the network observes the “first come, first served” policy in the placement of campaign advertisements over its broadcast outlets.
He said that President Rodrigo Duterte was not the only presidential candidate in the 2016 campaign whose political advertisement was unaired.
According to Katigbak, Duterte’s rivals, former Secretary Mar Roxas and the late Sen. Miriam Defensor suffered the same experience.
Moral issues and objectivity in reporting were the last of the many issues raised against the network that were taken up by the joint congressional proceedings.
While the legislative franchise panel chaired by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez will be voting on the 11 pending legislative franchise bills, the House Committee on Good Government will continue its inquiry into various controversies that surfaced during the hearings against ABS-CBN and other broadcast networks granted legislative franchises.
Alvarez said summations of both sides of the franchise issue will be presented on Thursday.
Salo joined Deputy Speaker and Sagip Parytlist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin; Reps. Bambol Tolentino (PDP-Laban, Tagaytay City) and Crispin Remulla (NP, Cavite) in airing personal experiences of alleged lack of objectivity of ABS-CBN reports.
Salo chided a senior ABS-CBN journalist for reporting accusations that the solon had proposed regulations that “were seen as the government’s way to control the shuttered news network repeatedly criticized by President Rodrigo Duterte.”
Garin cried foul over the manner by which ABS-CBN handled the Dengvaxia controversy in 2015-2017.
The lady solon also accused the network of resorting to splicing a television news report of a supposed interview she had with an ABS-CBN reporter. She pointed out that it was impossible for her to be interviewed because she was caring for her ailing father during that time.
Tolentino recounted the bad publicity he and his brother, Sen. Francis Tolentino, received from the network when they were running for different elective posts in 2013 and 2016.
“Mahirap lumaban kung ang kalaban mo ay taga-ABS-CBN, (Its difficult to fight if your foe is from ABS-CBN),” said Tolentino, as he lamented that the negative reports were also aired in the United States and Canada where they have friends and relatives.
The administration lawmaker said he is open to criticisms so long as he can air his side.
“Araw-araw ka binabanatan ng below the belt,” Tolentino said, recalling his experience with the network.
In a recent encounter with a network journalist, Marcoleta said he was wrongly reported to be a principal author of at least five legislative franchise measures.
The House official stressed that he never wrote any franchise bill. He showed a House certification to back his claim.
Remulla, whose brother was former ABS-CBN anchor Gilbert Remulla, assailed the alleged smear drive launched against him apparently for taking a hardline stance against the network.
Notwithstanding the complaints aired by their colleagues, Atienza and Rodriguez pointed out that there are no complaints of any wrongdoing against the network as testified by officials of the Commission on Elections, Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, and the National Telecommunications Commission.