SEN. Grace Poe yesterday said the Senate Committee on Public Services will tackle the franchise revocation of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), which the House of Representatives approved on Wednesday night.
The House cancellation of the congressional franchise of Swara Sug Media Corporation, which is operating as SMNI, was grounded on its supposed various violations, including the
spreading of fake news and red-tagging of critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
SMNI is owned by Kingdom of Jesus Christ pastor Apollo Quiboloy, an ally of Duterte, who is the subject of arrest warrants issued separately by the Sente and the House.
Poe said the Senate would thoroughly study and scrutinize the franchise revocation since “to my knowledge, this is the first instance that a proposal for a franchise revocation has made significant progress in Congress.”
“The appropriate manner of effecting revocation is through a repeal of the franchise law.
Thus, the repealing statute must undergo the same legislative process as when a bill is passed into law,” said Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Public Services.
“The Committee shall seek the consensus of the body on this. No franchise bill has ever been listed as a priority so I defer to the leadership as to the pace of its disposition,” she added.
Poe said the Senate will always be guided by the principle that a franchise is a privilege, therefore, grantees should always abide by the tenets of fairness and public welfare.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the SMNI franchise revocation will be discussed in the upper chamber “just like any other bill.”
Under the rules, a franchise measure emanates from the House of Representatives, and will pass through the regular process — read in the plenary, approved on second reading, and passed on third and final reading – before it is transmitted to the Senate.
The Senate, on the other hand, will follow the same process. However, if it does not adopt the House measure or if it does not come up with a counterpart measure, nothing will happen with the SMNI franchise, which means that it can continue to operate until its franchise expires.
Once the franchise expires, SMNI will need to apply for its renewal before the House, and the same process will be applied.
It can be recalled that the franchise of ABS-CBN Network was not renewed by the House, thus, the Senate had nothing to act on.
As a matter of process, Poe said the Senate will act on the SMNI franchise revocation once it is transmitted to them and referred to her committee.
“We should subject this to utmost study and scrutiny as this shall set a precedent for future legislative franchises,” she added.
House Bill (HB) No. 9710, the bill revoking SMNI’s franchise, was transmitteed to the Senate yesterday, along with Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 seeking amendments to the “restrictive” economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Speaker Martin Romualdez defended the hearings conducted by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises on SMNI’s violations of its congressional franchise.
“This decisive action underscores our commitment to uphold the integrity of broadcasting standards and the public’s trust,” he said. “Tinutupad lamang po natin ang mandatong ini-atang sa atin ng Konstitusyon at ng taongbayan. Walang personalan dito. Trabaho lang (We’re only performing the mandate given to us by the Constitution and the people. There are no personal motives. It’s plain work).” — With Wendell Vigilia
