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MANILA, Philippines – A total of 14 lawmakers on Tuesday asked Speaker of the House of Representatives Alan Peter Cayetano to allow Congress to address pending bills for renewal of the network giant ABS-CBN franchise, that ordered the closure of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC))
In their letter, the authors and co-authors of the bills said that, while they share the disgust of most House members at the NTC “trick”, and the alleged meddling by the Attorney General’s Office that led the network to stop its broadcasts, The burden of settling the dispute fell mainly on Congress.
“We understand that there are important steps that House leaders must take in this extraordinary time. However, we also believe that solving the ABS-CBN problem as soon as possible is equally important given the impact, economically and politically, of its continued closure at this time of crisis, “they said.
The 14 members of Congress wrote to Cayetano days after the NTC ordered ABS-CBN to halt broadcasts for an expired franchise, despite bills for renewal having been tabled since the 18th Congress opened on Sept. 30. June of last year.
The signatories to the letter are: Vice Presidents Vilma Santos-Recto (Batangas), Rose Marie Arenas (Pangasinan) and Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur); Representatives Rufus Rodríguez (Cagayan de Oro City), Joy Myra Tambunting (Parañaque), Micaela Violago (Nueva Ecija), Josephine Sato (Occidental Mindoro), Sol Aragones (Laguna), Arlene Brosa (Gabriela), France Castro (ACT Teachers), Sarah Jane Elago (Kabataan), and the deputy minority leader, Carlos Zárate, and representatives Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat (Bayan Muna).
ABS-CBN stopped the transmissions on its open television channel 2, as well as on the radio stations dzMM and MOR-FM, in compliance with the NTC order. However, it has switched its programming to live online streaming platforms.
Lawmakers expressed regret that the closure of ABS-CBN has put not only the House committee on legislative franchises in poor condition, but the entire House of Representatives.
“The committee and the House are now being blamed for the closure of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as for the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers,” they said.
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