House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday said hearings to be conducted on the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN were no guarantee that the broadcast giant would win approval of its application.
"To those calling for an immediate hearing on this matter, including my colleagues in Congress, let me just be very clear—a hearing does not mean automatic renewal," Cayetano said in a social media post.
READ: NTC faces House contempt rap for failure to give network permit
"While the deception of the NTC and the meddling of the Solicitor General adds exigency to the matter, there are still other concerns that need to be resolved," he added.
Cayetano's statement came amid calls for the chamber to immediately deliberate on the pending ABS-CBN franchise bills after the company shut down its broadcast operations following the cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
Cayetano, however, said the hearings would be the venue for an airing of all the stakeholders' sides.
"The serious concerns that have been raised can no longer be swept under the rug, and it is absolutely necessary for Congress to give this matter all the time and attention it requires," Cayetano said.
Cayetano, who has been blamed for delaying the hearings, said the process must be thorough so as to resolve the “uncertainties and doubts” surrounding the ABS-CBN franchise issue.
READ: Duterte: Congress must do its job in reviving ABS-CBN
"Ultimately, it is only through a fair, impartial, comprehensive, and thorough presentation and appreciation of the evidence that we can clear the air," he said.
"Your House of the People will put the interest of the Filipino people first, and in these extraordinary times prioritization, fairness and timing is of utmost importance," Cayetano added.
Earlier, 14 lawmakers who support the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise asked Cayetao to facilitate the holding of hearings on their bills.
In a letter Monday, the bills’ authors and co-authors said they shared Cayetano’s “frustrations with the non-issuance of a provisional authority to the network” despite the NTC's assurances to Congress during a March 10 hearing.
“Instead, the precipitate May 5 issuance by the NTC to a cease-and-desist has even placed in a bad light, to say the least, the committee in particular and the House of Representatives in general,” they said.
READ: Unplugged: NTC orders network off air, says it lacks valid franchise
Those who signed the letter were Deputy Speakers Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas, Rose Marie Arenas of Pangasinan, and Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, and Representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, Joy Myra Tambunting of Parañaque, Micaela Violago of Nueva Ecija, Josephine Sato of Occidental Mindoro, Sol Aragones of Laguna, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela, France Castro of Act Teachers, Sarah Jane Elago of Kabataan, and Carlos Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat of Bayan Muna.
They said the House and its legislative franchises committee “are now being blamed for the shutdown of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as for the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers.”
“That the citizenry also lost one of their main sources of credible and efficient news and information in this time of crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic was also largely blamed on our chamber,” they added.
“While we take strong exceptions to NTC’s trickery and the Office of the Solicitor General’s interventionist actions, we firmly believe that the House now has the primary duty and responsibility to put an end to the uncertainties and confusion brought by the pendency of the application of renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise,” the lawmakers said.
Meanwhile, Reps. Paolo Duterte of Davao City, Eric Go Yap of ACT-CIS, and Abraham Tolentino of Tagaytay City sought a congressional investigation into "probable violations” of ABS-CBN's legislative franchise.
The three lawmakers cited two alleged violations of the radio-TV broadcasting network: ABS-CBN Corporation's pay-per-view channel Kapamilya Box Office (KBO), and the issuance of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs) to foreigners through ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.
Duterte, Yap and Tolentino, said that through KBO, ABS-CBN is supposedly "gaining huge profits at the expense of the public while using the air frequencies provided by the government for free."
The three lawmakers also cited in their resolution that ABS-CBN's PDRs allegedly violate foreign ownership restrictions under Republic Act 7042 or the Foreign Investments Act of 1991 and Presidential Decree 1018 or Limiting the Ownership and Management of Mass Media to Citizens of the Philippines and for Other Purposes.
These were the same issues raised by Solicitor General Jose Calida, who has asked the Supreme Court to nullify ABS-CBN's franchise.
Cayetano has vowed “fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive hearings” on the ABS-CBN franchise issue.
“We understand that there are important measures that the House leadership has to attend to in this extraordinary time. However, we believe, too, that resolving the ABS-CBN issue the soonest is equally important given the impact, economically and politically, of its continued shutdown in this time of crisis,” they 14 House members said.
“We continue to trust that under your leadership, this matter will soon be resolved to the best interests of our country and people,” they said.
Last week, Rodriguez filed a joint resolution to extend the ABS-CBN franchise up to the June 30, 2022, when the life of the present 18th Congress expires. At the same time, he authored a bill seeking a fresh 25-year broadcasting privilege for the network.
On Tuesday, Senator Manuel Lapid filed a bill seeking to provide provisional licenses to radio stations with pending franchise renewal applications before the Congress.
Senate Bill 1522 aims to amend Section 1 of Republic Act No. 3846 which provides for the regulation of radio stations and radio communications in the country.
The measure proposes that "a legislative franchise for a radio station of any person, firm, company, association or corporation shall be deemed provisionally renewed upon the valid filing in Congress of a bill seeking its renewal."
The proposed amendment further states that the provisional license must be given to the radio station provided that the filing of the bill for its franchise renewal is made before the actual expiration of the legislative franchise.
The actor-turned-politician filed the measure almost a week after the NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN. The major TV network was forced to stop its operation in compliance with the NTC's order following the expiration of it's 25-year franchise ON May 4.
Lapid was in the cast of ABS-CBN's top-rating TV series "Ang Probinsyano."
On Monday, most senators adopted Resolution 395 urging the NTC to allow the continuous operation of ABS-CBN, its subsidiaries, and affiliates pending the disposition of its franchise renewal.
Nine senators abstained.
Also on Tuesday, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) said it was not picking a fight with ABS-CBN and other members of the media.
"The NTF ELCAC is not picking a fight with innocent media. ABS-CBN workers and their media friends should know better," said Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) chief, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., in a statement.
Parlade, however, said this is the impression Communist Party of the Philippine (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison successfully created over a media petition in the wake of the closure of ABS-CBN.
Parlade, who is also a member of the NTF ELCAC, said communist rebels are hoping that the government will red-tag those in the media petition.
"The CPP only wishes that the government will-red tag you all. But no, we want to isolate and secure you from Joma's stooges. This is a showdown between Joma's propagandists and the truth," he added, daring other long-time cohorts of the CPP operating in the media to expose themselves some more. With PNA