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| Photos courtesy of The Manila Times and Rappler |
The suspended media giant--ABS-CBN Corp. have to endure
another hardship as they battle to secure a new franchise, where the majority of
lawmakers at the House of Representatives seemed hesitant to give the network
another chance to go on the air.
According to one of the leading newspaper in the country, the
Manila Times, they were able to obtain a copy of an unofficial list of congress’ votes
regarding the ABS-CBN franchise renewal.
The said documents
showed a list of lawmakers who were likely to reject the grant of a franchise and
outnumbered those who vouched for the network.
An initial tally of votes showed that 25 lawmakers were
likely to vote in favor of the network, 57 were likely to oppose a new
franchise, while 10 were unsure.
However, the document was unofficial, it showed an initial
tally of votes from 25 congressmen who voted in favor of the Kapamilya network.
While the “yes” votes were not enough to outnumber the 57 who
voted “no” while 10 are still unsure with regards to the franchise renewal of
the said network.
The Joint Committee on Legislative Franchises and on Good
Government and Public Accountability concluded hearings on the alleged
violations of ABS-CBN on Monday.
There had been 12 hearings that extensively tackled the
network’s alleged violations of its franchise, the Constitution, labor, and tax
laws, and biased reporting and meddling in politics.
The Manila Times also said, the voting for a new franchise of
ABS-CBN will happen after the hearings are concluded on Thursday.
However, Legislative Franchises Committee Chairman Franz Alvarez, said they had yet to schedule a date for voting.
Last Monday, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano advised
lawmakers to cast a “conscience vote.”
“I cannot speak for the parties, kasi mag-uusap-usap din
sila (because they will discuss among themselves). But from the start, we’ve
been urging a conscience vote,” Cayetano told the media.
Cayetano decided not to testify in the hearing on the
alleged biased-reporting of ABS-CBN so as not to “sway” the other lawmakers.
But instead, he would submit a written position to the
committee on his view that the network had been biased in the coverage and
placement of advertisements during the 2016 elections when he ran for vice
president as the running mate of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Meanwhile, the Kabataan party-list also believe that ABS-CBN
has complied with the provisions and requirements of its previous franchise and
deserves a new franchise.
“...that will enable it to continue its broadcasting service to
19 million Filipino households out of 21 million nationwide and over 3 million
Filipinos overseas, especially in this time of a pandemic where news and
information dissemination, even entertainment, is as critical as a need.” Elago
said.
“The fault-finding against ABS-CBN has gone too far, leaving
more jobs lost and millions of Filipinos without access to news and entertainment.
Amid the pandemic when firms are closing and downsizing with millions of
displaced workers and unemployment is at an all-time high, the government must
focus instead on supporting local enterprises and preserving jobs,” Kabataan
party-list Rep. Sarah Elago added.
The Kapamilya network is one of the largest and oldest
broadcasting company in the country. It has produced excellent artists with the
likes of Coco Martin and Daniel Padilla and many more.
Several Kapuso celebrities reacted after learning that the
said network was ordered to stop its broadcast operations due to the expiration
of its franchise.
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