‘Denial of ABS-CBN franchise final’

THE decision of the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representative rejecting the measure that sought to grant a new franchise to ABS-CBN Corp. is final, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Franz Alvarez, said on Thursday.

He explained that the ABS-CBN franchise issue was “put to rest” when the committee, through the vote of 70 lawmakers, rejected the network’s franchise application on July 10, 2020.

“Under the rules, anyone of the 70 House members who voted against the franchise application could file a motion for reconsideration on behalf of ABS-CBN to challenge the decision of the Committee. Unfortunately, there was none, thus the committee decision has become final,” Alvarez said in a statement.

The possibility of tackling the ABS-CBN franchise in the plenary emerged when Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor raised a point of order during the House session on

Wednesday, asking to resolve the committee report on House Bill (HB) 6732, granting a temporary franchise to the network.

He said the bill, one of the items listed in the body’s “unfinished business,” must be tackled first before proceeding with the business of the day.

Senior Deputy Majority Leader Jesus Crispin Remulla said the plenary would start taking up items in the unfinished business next week.

HB 6732 is one of the eight items listed under the House’s unfinished business. It is unclear if all items will be tackled on Monday.

But, for Alvarez, HB 6732 is “moot and academic” as it proposes to grant a provisional franchise only up to Oct. 31, 2020.

“Based on my understanding from the House leadership, the ABS-CBN franchise issue is best left to the next Congress,” he said.

Former speaker Alan Peter Cayetano led the filing of HB 6732, a temporary relief for the continuous operation of ABS-CBN after its previous franchise expired.

The bill was passed on second reading by the House Committee of the Whole last May 2020, but was recalled because of questions on constitutionality, having been passed the same day it was filed. The House instead proceeded with the committee deliberations on the 12 bills seeking to grant a 25-year franchise.

Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said it was up to the House leadership if the deliberations of HB 6732 would be continued since it had been overtaken by the committee hearing.

In the meantime, he said the Makabayan bloc had a pending motion to bring the committee report on the franchise bills to the plenary for all members of the House to decide upon. The Makabayan lawmakers are among the authors of 12 franchise bills.

Zarate said the bloc would support any means for ABS-CBN to resume its operations citing the urgency of its contribution to information dissemination especially on the coronavirus and vaccines.

“Kung ano man ang kahihinatnan nito, nandyan ang aming tindig na dapat bumalik sa ere ang ABS-CBN para maituloy nito ang pagbibigay nito ng serbisyo sa mga mamayang Pilipino na alam natin na kailangang kailangan ngayon (Whatever the result will be, we maintain our stand that ABS-CBN must come back to continue its service to the Filipino people that we know is very much needed right now),”he stressed.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/01/29/news/national/denial-of-abs-cbn-franchise-final/834312/