QUOTING a line from “May Way,” an iconic song of the late Frank Sinatra, Solicitor General Jose Calida yesterday warned ABS-CBN Corporation that “the end is near” for the biggest television network in the country.
Calida, who attended the second hearing of the House committee on legislative franchises and on good government through videoconferencing, faced the network’s executives led by its president and CEO, Carlo Katigbak, who took the opportunity to debunk the allegations against the network.
“ABS-CBN is motivated not by service but by greed and a desire for power and influence. Their brazen acts must come to an end. The hour of reckoning may have been delayed, but it has now come,” Calida said.
Katigbak answered the citizenship issue against its former president, Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III, who was invited to participate in the next hearing on Wednesday morning on the motion of deputy speaker Rodante Marcoleta.
“The 1935 Constitution states that you are a Filipino from birth if your father or your parents are Filipinos. Mr. Lopez was born in 1952 and so he’s covered by the 1935 Constitution. His parents are Filipinos so from birth, he’s automatically a Filipino, too,” Katigbak told the joint panel.
He said the Department of Justice, in granting Lopez’ request for recognition as a Filipino citizen in 2002, said that he was born in Boston which made him an American citizen, the former president of the network is a legitimate child of Conchita Lao and Eugenio Lopez Jr., both natural-born Filipino citizens, which automatically made him a Filipino citizen, too, based to Section 1, Article 4 of the 1935 Constitution.
Calida, who has a pending a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN before the Supreme Court, participated in the joint hearing on the network’s franchise renewal application after he was threatened with contempt by lawmakers.
The solicitor general insisted that in the past 25 years, ABS-CBN — which was ordered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on May 5 to stop airing — has violated the Constitution, its franchise and other pertinent laws.
Among the issues he cited, which was also part of his SC petition, is the claim that the network, through the ABS-CBN Holdings Corp., allowed foreigners to own its common shares through the issuance of Philippine depositary receipts (PDRs) which he said is a “circumvention of the foreign equity restriction provided under the Philippine Constitution.”
“Indeed, the ABS-CBN PDR has provided for a creative mechanism (for foreigners) to indirectly own the underlying ABS-CBN shares of stock,” he said.
Katigbak, however, said the PDR is not share that would mean ownership of a part of ABS-CBN since its holders do not have voting rights in the company.
He said the practice of selling PDRs was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 4, 1999 and that other media companies like GMA 7 also sold PDRs to the public.
Katigbak also brushed aside Marcoleta’s claim that the network should be taken off the air because it has been using the air waves for 53 years in violation of the Constitution which states that Congress can grant a franchise of only up to 50 years.
He said once a legislative franchise lapses, the Constitution merely requires networks to apply for a renewal which cannot be more than 50 years.
Lastly, Katigbak took Marcoleta to task for questioning how the Lopez family, in the aftermath of the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution under the Aquino administration, was able to recover ABS-CBN from the government despite a pending arbitration case, saying the network was merely returned to its rightful owners.
“This might be the most painful of all allegations because ABS-CBN was shut down in 1972 after martial law was declared. The Lopez family did not sell ABS-CBN. Its facilities were used without compensation,” he said.
He said the return of ABS-CBN to its owners went through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Office of the President, and the Supreme Court.
The joint panel did not cite Calida in contempt after he finally participated in the hearing, but only to say that he will not answer committee questions about issues pending before the SC because of the “sub judice” rule which prohibits him from discussing the merits of the case and the “principle of non-encroachment on the exclusive domain of judicial jurisdiction.”
Calida, who did not attend the first hearing last week, also denied he was at “loggerheads” with the House leadership for allegedly urging the NTC not to issue a provisional authority to allow the network to operate while Congress is hearing the franchise renewal bills.
“I only cautioned the NTC of its possible encroachment on the legislative power (of Congress),” he said. “I never mentioned the name of Speaker Cayetano and any congressman in my advisory letter to the NTC or in any of my subsequent press releases.”
Bulacan Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, good government panel chair said lawmakers will continue to ask questions from resource persons next hearing because it is well within their constitutional powers to do so and those who will not cooperate will be cited in contempt.
“We know the rule and our members know how to avoid delving into matters that are subject of the court petitions,” Sy-Alvarado told panel members.
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, who was also asked by the joint panel why he should not be cited in contempt and later detained for backtracking on his vow to issue a provisional authority, said the body did so because it “cannot supplant mandate of Congress (to grant franchises) or preempt legislative action.”
“Otherwise, the NTC will be acting beyond powers delegated to it by law,” he said. “It’s not the intention of the NTC to inconvenience (Congress) and certainly, we intended no respect.”
Samar Rep. Edgar Sarmiento slammed the NTC for insulting Congress when it issued a cease and desist order against the network despite its commitment made under oath before lawmakers.
The NTC order was issued a day after the network’s franchise expired.
“Clearly this is a disrespect to Congress. Huwag po tayong pumayag,” he said, stressing that the NTC also violated its own rules and denied ABS-CBN due process when it did not issue a show-cause order before the cease and desist order.
Calida also slammed ABS-CBN talent Coco Martin for being one of the celebrities who took to social media “to rail against whey they perceive to be oppression on the part of the government.”
“In desperation, they would want to use their influence over their multitudes of fans to muddle the issue and drum up support for their network,” he said.
Calida then quoted the “Ang Probinsyano” actor as saying, “Kapag ang pamilya ko kinanti, kahit sino ka pa, lalaban ako ng patayan sa iyo kahit patayin mo pa ako (When you touch my family, no matter who you are, I will fight to the death even if you kill me).”
The Solicitor General said that while the Kapamilya actor has already apologized for the outburst, he continued to attack the government when he said in social media: “Maraming salamat Solicitor General Joe Calida at sa bumubuo ng National Telecommunication Commission sa kontribusyon niyo sa ating bayan! Tinatarantado ninyo ang mga Pilipino (Thanks to Solicitor General Joe Calida and the NTC for your contribution to the country. You did the country a disservice).”
“If I had not been the Solicitor General, I would have called his bluff and make him eat his words,” Calida said