THE fate of mass media giant ABS-CBN Corp and the jobs of its 11,000 regular and contractual employees hang in the balance as the House committee on legislative franchises take a crucial vote today on the renewal of its franchise to operate.
Panel members remain divided over the issue with influential voices from the House majority bloc leaning towards denial of the application.
House leaders, however. reiterated their call for a “conscience vote” even as they exhorted committee members and staff for continuing the deliberations even after the sine die adjournment while big swaths of the country is in lockdown due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee held 13 hearings to allow both sides to vent out various issues related to the Lopez family-owned media outfit.
“I trust that the summation of facts presented to us today will be of great value in making fair and impartial judgment. Let the facts, not innuendos or hearsay, steer us to a wise decision,” majority leader Martin Romualdez (Leyte) said.
“In casting our votes, may the Constitution and existing laws of the land be our compasses,” he added.
At the same time, he appealed to the people to accord respect to any ruling that the House of Representatives may arrive at after the vote.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano noted that the involvement of the owners of ABS-CBN in several other companies worked against it on issues of objectivity.
Aside from mass media, the family is also involved in power generation and property development.
House deputy majority leader Xavier Jesus Romualdez (Camiguin), deputy speaker Pablo John Garcia (Cebu), and assistant minority leader Stella Quimbo (Marikina City) were designated as members of the technical working group tasked to prepare and present the panel’s findings for voting today.
House deputy minority leader Carlos Isagani Zarate (Bayan Muna) called on his colleagues to consider the plight of 11,000 workers of ABS-CBN and their families amid the economic down turn.
“One important question we are confronted with in these difficult times — why should we add 11,000 unemployed in our country if they can remain as breadwinners?” he said.
Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the giant broadcasting network deserves to have its franchise application denied for playing fast with the rules, saying there are serious allegations of unethical conduct by the company.
“Not everything allowed by law are honorable. We have the so-called corporate social responsibilities and ethical and moral considerations. They took shelter behind tax avoidance, taking advantage of legal loopholes,” Barzaga said.
He stressed that press freedom is not an overriding issue on the vote to deny or grant the renewal.
