News faces: May 10, 2020

ILLUSTRA TION BY RENE ELEVERA

Edgardo Cabarios

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) took the heat this week with its surprise decision to shut down ABS-CBN Corp’s transmission operations. NTC deputy commissioner Edgardo Cabarios tried to explain the legal justification for the shutdown, but did not. given that many other companies were allowed to operate despite their expired franchise while Congress deliberated on their renewal application.

In a speech in December last year, President Duterte said the network was definitely “out of the game,” citing how he had been unable to broadcast his ads during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The media giant also blamed Attorney General José Cálida for the unexpected move, citing documents that allegedly showed him pressing the NTC to disconnect the station. NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Córdoba was also criticized for failing to deliver on his promise to Congress in March to allow ABS-CBN to continue operations while bills to renew his franchise were pending.

Whoever was behind the measure, the fact is that the most affected are the more than 11,000 workers in the network and the people who need crucial information in the midst of a pandemic. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS

Jose Calida

Political observers would likely give the government’s top defense attorney, Attorney General José Cálida, a significant role in one of the ABS-CBN “teleserye” for being featured prominently in the unexpected shutdown of the network. Calida’s first attempt to shut it down in February failed, when the superior court denied his request for a quo warranto.

Undeterred by the ongoing health crisis, he threatened the National Telecommunications Commission with corruption charges if he did not issue a cease and desist order against the station, the network said, citing documents it had obtained.

The persecution of the quo warranto petition also resulted in the Office of the Attorney General (GSO) failing to meet the court-appointed deadline to comment on the appeal of one of the defendants in a case of Marcos’ battered wealth.

Calida has been charged with a conflict of interest when his family security company Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. won government contracts worth $ 150 million.

In a media interview in 2018, Calida said he resigned from his position as president and president of the company a month before being appointed to the GSO. —DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN

Leonor Briones

Education Secretary Leonor Briones took center stage last week when she announced the date classes would open, August 24, after the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cast doubt on the fate of the next school year.

The announcement put to rest weeks of speculation that, contrary to the law, classes for public school students would be postponed until September or even 2021.

However, he did not answer some of the most pressing questions about what the contours of the upcoming school year might look like.

“This date does not mean that students will physically attend classes because we still have a closure in several areas,” said Briones. “It could be virtual or physical if the conditions in the area allow physical classes.”

An educational system reinvented in the country could include television or radio, he added.

“The development, enrichment, and search for new ways for children to learn will continue,” Briones said, although he recognized that education, as in life in general, would be dramatically different after COVID-19.

Traditionally, public schools open in June, while private schools begin classes in July or August. —MATEO REYSIO-CRUZ

Noli de Castro

Network giant ABS-CBN went off the air last week by former TV presenter Patrol and former Vice President Noli de Castro. The network, which failed to guarantee the renewal of its franchise in Congress, closed on May 5, pursuant to a controversial order from the National Telecommunications Commission.

In words written by ABS-CBN news chief Ging Reyes, De Castro promised that the network “will not be silenced, despite this attack on our democracy and press freedom.”

Faced with this challenge facing our company and livelihoods, we will not turn our backs on it. We, you, are ABS-CBN. “

A sometimes polarizing figure who once faced graft complaints, De Castro is the father of Kat de Castro, who was recently appointed to the board of the government channel, PTV-4.

The host and presenter of the “Magandang Gabi, Bayan” news program was elected senator in 2001. He was vice president of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In 2017, De Castro was angered by the National Youth Commission for his derogatory comments about transgender singer Jake Zyrus, formerly known as Charice, in an episode of TV Patrol. —PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU

Peque Gallaga

“You can never recover from a loss like this. Peque is irreplaceable, ”said Lore Reyes, the best friend of the late filmmaker and award-winning Peque Gallaga and his co-director in more than 20 films. Gallaga, 76, died on May 7 in the city of Bacolod from cardiopulmonary arrest, according to his wife, Madie.

Gallaga and Reyes shared directing credits for the second, third and fourth editions of the “Shake, Rattle and Roll” franchise and other films, the most recent being “Sonata” (2013) and “T’yanak” (2014).

The director also directed “Virgin Forest”, “Scorpio Nights” and “Unfaithful Wife” in the 1980s.

But the classic period drama “Oro, Plata, Mata” was considered Gallaga’s most important contribution to Filipino cinema. The 1982 epic film showed the wealth, status, and moral orientation of the rural elite eroded by the conflicts and violence of World War II.

In addition to directing movies, Gallaga had an acting role in Mario O’Hara’s “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos”, and was a production designer on Eddie Romero’s 1976 drama “Ganito Kami Noon … Paano Kayo Ngayon?” and Ishmael Bernal’s sandy “Manila by Night” released in 1980. MARINEL CRUZ

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