The shutting down of the Philippines' top broadcaster crosses a dangerous line in eroding the nation's democracy and sends a warning to those who risk angering President Rodrigo Duterte, watchdogs said.
Since rising to power in 2016, Duterte has steadily tightened his grip on the nation's key institutions and jailed or sidelined his loudest detractors, but until now his worst threats against critical media had not been fully realized.
Tuesday's halting of broadcasting giant ABS-CBN's operations marks the first time a major, independent outlet was shut down since Duterte took office in a step that echoes the country's grim authoritarian past.
"This is a dark day for media freedom in the Philippines, reminiscent of martial law when the dictatorship seized control over news agencies," said Amnesty International's Butch Olano.
ABS-CBN's main channels fell silent hours after a surprise government shutdown order issued over a stalled operating license renewal.
Its 25-year franchise expired on Monday, but officials had previously given assurances the radio, TV, and internet giant would be allowed to operate provisionally.
The outlet, which reaches tens of millions of Filipinos daily, ran afoul of Duterte in 2016 and since then the notoriously outspoken leader has repeatedly threatened it in speeches.
Early in his term, Duterte accused the media group of failing to broadcast his 2016 election campaign advertisements and not returning the payments made for them.
"All this stems from President Rodrigo Duterte's personal vendetta against the network," said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
Duterte arrived at the summit of Philippine politics as an outsider from the southern city of Davao and immediately set about consolidating his power.
His critics have been jailed, including Senator Leila de Lima, who has been behind bars for years on drug charges she insists were fabricated to silence her criticism of Duterte's deadly drug war.
Others have been pushed from high-profile posts like Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was kicked out of the nation's top court in a procedure that critics said pushed the limits of constitutionality.
Institutions such as the Supreme Court have shown little appetite to rule against Duterte on key issues, and the legislature is controlled by his allies or backers.
Palace reporters blast move
The Malacañang Press Corps “strongly condemned” the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) cease and desist order that shut down ABS-CBN as a “shameless and blatant attack on press freedom.”
NTC’s decision, the group noted, came after a threat from Solicitor General Jose Calida that he would file graft charges against NTC officials if they grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.
“Mr. Calida, lest we forget, is the same person behind a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court against ABS-CBN filed in February 2020,” the press corps said, noting Calida’s petition followed several statements from the President that he would block the network's franchise renewal.
“The confluence of events shows us that this is an orchestrated attack in part against ABS-CBN, and on the whole, an attack against press freedom by agents of the government who are only too willing to please their master. They have done it before. They are doing it again.”
Provisional authority
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines said Wednesday the National Telecommunications Commission could grant a provisional authority to operate to ABS-CBN while it awaits action from Congress on the bills seeking the renewal of its franchise.
IBP president Domingo Egon Cayosa urged the concerned government agencies and government officials to speedily act on ABS-CBN’s franchise.
“The IBP respectfully urges the concerned government officials and offices to do their sworn duty and without delay or recrimination,” Cayosa said in a statement.
Sympathy
Former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday sympathized with the ABS-CBN Network whose franchise expired Monday and whose application for renewal remains pending in Congress.
"We may argue on who bears greater responsibility for the closure of ABS-CBN. But we cannot deny that the day the network went off the air 48 years ago was also the day democracy died," Binay said.
He said he was hoping that the men and women of ABS-CBN would continue to pursue their "great calling of journalism in the service of the Filipino.”
Press freedom threatened
The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines condemned the NTC’s order to shut down ABS-CBN, saying the order threatened press freedom at a time when the public needed an unfettered press the most.
"As the Philippines reels from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, ABS-CBN’s critical eye is needed now more than ever to help inform the public,” the group said in a statement.
Photographers stunned
The members of the Photojournalists' Center of the Philippines said they were stunned by the order to close ABS-CBN.
"We are stunned by the callousness of depriving the Filipino people of a public information channel in these trying times,” the group said in a statement.
Federation backs broadcaster
The International Federation of Journalists on Wednesday urged the Philippine government to allow ABS-CBN to continue its broadcasts.
“IFJ urges the authorities to allow ABS-CBN to continue its broadcasting and renew the company’s license,” the group said in a statement.
Established in 1926, the IFJ represents 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries.
NTC defended
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Wednesday brushed aside the observation that Calida pressured the NTC to close down ABS-CBN.
Calida on Wednesday also defended the NTC from its critics.
"The question we should be asking is, why hasn’t Congress acted on [the network’s franchise?] Who is at fault here?"
A blow to press freedom
The closure of ABS-CBN is a blow to press freedom and a setback as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the Makati Business Club said Wednesday.
"The shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp.'s broadcast operations will be a blow to press freedom, which is a pillar of democratic societies such as ours," the MBC said in a statement.
"It is also a setback at a time when the country needs to be unified against the pandemic. Now more than ever, everyone should be working together on the singular goal of helping each other through this crisis.”
Aggravation
THE closure of ABS-CBN has only aggravated the struggle for a living of its 11,000 workers,” a lawyer said Wednesday.
"ABS-CBN’s shutdown on Tuesday triggers waves of effects, especially as the country confronts the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic," Jacqueline Ann de Guia said.
"At this point, we cannot stress enough how access to credible information is crucial in addressing the spread of COVID-19.”
NTC decision condemned
Some universities have condemned the NTC order closing down ABS-CBN.
Those included the University of Santo Tomas, the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Far Eastern University.
TUCP slams NTC
The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Wednesday slammed the NTC’S order closing down ABS-CBN.
“With a single stroke of the pen, an unfeeling NTC has rendered 11,000 workers jobless, increasing the vulnerability of these workers and their families to both the ravages of COVID-19 and the economic recession. Truth and the ABS-CBN workers are the first victims of the NTC order, the TUCP said in a statement.
“The second victims of NTC will be the nation as a whole. Mean-spirited and unwise, the NTC order will effectively raise COVID-19 incidences as our poorest people, without the distraction of their favorite TV shows inside their super-heated, locked-down homes, start congregating outside their crowded communities without physical distancing.”
