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MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives Committee of the Whole approved on Wednesday the bill giving media giant ABS-CBN a provisional franchise to operate until October 2020.
The lower house approved on second reading House Bill No. 6732 or “A Law that grants the ABS-CBN Corporation a franchise to build, install, operate and maintain radio and television broadcast stations in the Philippines and for other purposes “presented by President Alan Peter Cayetano and several other legislators.
Under the bill, ABS-CBN will be granted a provisional franchise valid until October 31, 2020.
“Through this measure, we hope to strike a balance between the immediate needs of people in the midst of their crisis and the duty of Congress to ensure accountability to our current laws,” lawmakers said in the explanatory note to the draft bill. law.
“By providing ABS-CBN with a provisional franchise valid until October 31, 2020, both the House of Representatives and the Senate will listen to the issues raised for and against renewal, and assess, with full impartiality and fairness, whether the network will be granted a franchise for another twenty-five (25) years, “they added.
In addition, lawmakers said, “We cannot, in good conscience, sweep the allegations under the rug.”
The House of Representatives met Wednesday in a Committee of the Whole to address the bill.
“When the Chamber is constituted in a Committee of the Whole, it functions as a committee that acts on a bill or resolution, and that carries out its procedures as a regular committee with its membership made up of all the members of the Chamber,” he declares. the House rule.
The bill was approved eight days after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered ABS-CBN to close its transmission operations after its franchise expired on May 8.
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