Duterte not ‘consolidating power’ amid Covid-19 pandemic

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on July 21, 2020. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Malacañang on Wednesday denied allegations that President Rodrigo Duterte is using the strategy of consolidating power to curtail press freedom amid the prevailing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa expressed concerns over Duterte’s alleged consolidating power which led to the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.

“There is certainly no truth to Ms. Ressa’s allegation. The press can keep on reporting as long as there is no violation and has the right to continue its operations,” Roque said in a statement.

He insisted that Congress has the sole and exclusive prerogative to grant broadcasting franchises.

“We have maintained a neutral stance on the issue as part of our courtesy and respect to a separate co-equal branch of the government,” he said.

According to Roque, ABS-CBN, Rappler, and other news entities continue to report on the events happening in the country.

“A good case in point is the ABS-CBN News coverage of the not guilty plea of Maria Ressa, which can be read online,” he said.

Roque, meanwhile, accused Ressa of “playing the victim card” by talking about the non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise in her press conference.

“It is very evident that Maria Ressa is playing the victim card by talking about the non-renewal of the broadcast franchise of ABS-CBN after filing her not guilty plea before a local court,” he said.

In a press conference right after filing not guilty to a tax evasion charge before a Pasig court on Wednesday, Ressa warned the shutdown of ABS-CBN could happen to any media outlet.

“It’s unthinkable that ABS-CBN shut down. It’s like the perfect storm where the pandemic and the lockdown enabled the government to consolidate power,” she said.

Last July 10, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises junked ABS-CBN’s franchise bid in a 70-11 vote.

Ressa pleaded not guilty to tax evasion — one of five tax-related charges she faces — before a Pasig City court.

She claimed that the charges against her are “politically motivated.”

Her application to quash the charge was rejected by the judge, she said.

Ressa is accused of providing incorrect information for a company tax return involving nearly PHP300,000.

Earlier this month, Duterte said he has been collating documents for years now to back his claim that Ressa is a “fraud.”

He said once he is done compiling the evidence against Ressa, he would tell the public about the latter’s “incongruity.”