Presidential communications team rejects social media posts against ABS-CBN

Malacanang’s communications team has disavowed social media posts that accused ABS-CBN of infringing franchises and blamed the network for the expiration of its broadcast permit.

The posts from the Facebook page of the military’s National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) were shared on Saturday by official accounts of the Office of Presidential Communications Operations and the Information Agency of Philippines-National Capital Region.

In a statement, Communications Sec. Martin Andanar said the “exchange” of NTFELCAC messages “was done without the usual investigative process” of the Office of Presidential Communications Operations that it directs.

“That said, the published content is in no way an official statement or opinion of the PCOO. The problem regarding the ABS-CBN Corporation network franchise remains within the purview of Congress,” he said.

The presidential spokesman, sec. Harry Roque denied it.

“We want to clarify that the above positions do not come from the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson and from the NTF Stratcomms, headed by PAHO. Therefore, it is not the official statement of our Office, ”said Roque.

In a publication shared by the PCOO and PIA-NCR accounts, the NTFELCAC alleged that the illegal charges and transmission operations were at the center of the cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission, charges that ABS-CBN has denied .

In another post also shared by the two accounts, the NTFELCAC said ABS-CBN was to blame for the failure of its franchise that led to the government’s order to halt its broadcast operations.

Since then, posts have been removed from PCOO and PIA-NCR accounts.

news.abs-cbn.com is the official news website for ABS-CBN Corp.

–With a report from Arianne Merez, ABS-CBN News