THE House of Representatives on Monday assured the public and stakeholders that fairness and due process will be observed as it begins committee deliberations on bills seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation today, Tuesday.
The House committees on legislative franchises and on good government and public accountability will hold a joint hearing this afternoon at the plenary to ensure that physical distancing will be observed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bulacan Rep. Jonathan Sy-Alvarado, chair of the committee on good government, said his panel and the committee on legislative franchises chaired by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez will give all stakeholders the opportunity to be heard.
“Tomorrow (Tuesday), we look forward to the second hearing on the ABSCBN franchise. As Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has repeatedly said, Congress is committed to upholding due process by conducting a fair, impartial, and comprehensive hearing before approving or denying the franchise application,” said Sy-Alvarado.
He said the Alvarez panel will call several resource persons to provide a general overview of the issues, including Solicitor General Jose Calida, “without prejudice to the quo warranto case he has filed before the Supreme Court (against ABS-CBN).”
The petition filed by Calida before the Supreme Court in February seeks to revoke the franchise of the media giant for alleged violations of the franchise. The petition is pending.
ABS-CBN’s franchise expired on May 4. The following day, the National Telecommunications Commission ordered the network to cease operations despite the assurance that its chief, Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, gave the House leadership in March, that it will “let ABS-CBN continue operations based on equity.” Calida, a few days before the franchise lapsed, warned the NTC against issuing a provisional franchise to the network.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano earlier assured the public that President Duterte is not meddling in the affairs of Congress which is supposed to be an independent, co-equal branch of the Executive.
The Chief Executive has repeatedly vowed to see to it that ABS-CBN will be closed down after it failed to air some of his political ads during the 2016 campaign period.
“I can tell you and look you in the eyes that the President’s request to me is just be fair. He’s leaving the matter to us. The President has never told me to grant or not grant the franchise,” Cayetano told reporters.
The House leadership on Tuesday last week dropped House Bill 6732 that would have granted ABS-CBN a provisional franchise effective until the end of October this year. HB 6732 was passed on first and second reading on May 14. On May 18, the House leadership withdrew its passage on second reading after some lawmakers raised possible constitutional infirmities because of the way it was approved.
