PDU30 shuts door on new ABS-CBN franchise

THE government of Pres. Duterte would not implement any congressional franchise for any applicant with unsettled tax obligations including ABS-CBN, the media outfit of the Lopez family.

This was the strong message of the chief executive to lawmakers who have scrambled to file  separate franchise bills in Congress on behalf of the company.

Although Pres. Duterte did not specifically named ABS-CBN during his regular public address last January 18, 2021, there was no doubt in everybody’s mind as to who he was referring to.

“For all I care, you can have a thousand franchise. You will not see the light of day there until you come to government with clean hands,” Pres. Duterte said.

The following day, presidential spokesman, Atty. Harry Roque, confirmed the Chief Executive was indeed, referring to ABS-CBN, which was established last year of violating the provisions of its existing broadcast franchise such as the issue of foreign ownership, violation of the Labor Code and not paying the correct taxes on its over 4 hectares property in Quezon City.

The findings led Congress to deny the company’s new franchise application, despite intense lobbying of some lawmakers and the street demonstrations of communist groups all beholden to the company.

ABS-CBN officially ended its broadcast on May 5, 2020.

Last January 4, 2021, however, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, filed Senate Bill 1967, seeking for a “renewal” for another 25 years of the expired franchise of ABS-CBN.

The next day, January 5, 2021, Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, filed her own bill, HB 8298, mirroring the arguments in favor of ABS-CBN raised by Sotto and which also calls for “renewing” the franchise of the company for the next 25 years.

But stressing his decision is not anchored on any personal animosity— during the campaign period in 2016, ABS-CBN “swindled” then presidential candidate Duterte by accepting the P20 million fee for his advertisement but decided not to air it—the President said the “bigger issue in the background” is the company’s tax delinquencies.

The President also reminded the public that a franchise does not mean that “past misdeeds are condoned.”

Last September 2019, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), recalled all the frequencies or channels assigned to ABS-CBN.

However, some ABS-CBN shows have since gone back on-air starting October 2019, after striking a deal with ‘Zoe Broadcasting Network,’ a free-to-air channel owned by the family of religious leader and CIBAC Party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva.