{"id":262133,"date":"2020-07-18T06:19:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T10:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=262133"},"modified":"2020-07-18T06:19:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T10:19:22","slug":"abs-cbn-franchise-bid-denial-not-prelude-to-martial-law-panelo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/07\/18\/abs-cbn-franchise-bid-denial-not-prelude-to-martial-law-panelo\/","title":{"rendered":"ABS-CBN franchise bid denial not prelude to martial law: Panelo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
During his commentary show \u201cCounterpoint\u201d aired on state-run PTV-4, Panelo said House lawmakers merely observed the rule of law when they decided to junk ABS-CBN\u2019s bid to get a new franchise. (File photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The failure of ABS-CBN Corp. to secure a fresh 25-year franchise from Congress is not a move closer to President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s declaration of martial rule in the country, Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said on Friday.<\/p>\n

During his commentary show \u201cCounterpoint\u201d aired on state-run PTV-4, Panelo said House lawmakers merely observed the rule of law when they decided to junk ABS-CBN\u2019s bid to get a new franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201dHindi ibig sabihin ito ay isang hakbang tungo sa isang diktaturya<\/em>\u00a0(This does not mean it is a prelude to the declaration of martial law). This is in fact a further step towards the faithful observance of due process of law,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo\u2019s statement came four days after Duterte said he is \u201cvery happy\u201d that he has dismantled the oligarchy in the country without declaring martial law.<\/p>\n

The House Committee on Legislative Franchises on July 10 denied the application of ABS-CBN for a fresh 25-year congressional franchise to enable the network to resume its broadcast operations.<\/p>\n

Panelo said it was wrong to assume that ABS-CBN can use its franchise \u201cforever.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the granting of the legislative franchise to a broadcast firm is merely a \u201cprivilege and not a right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWala kayong pwedeng sabihin na since binigyan kayo, amin na ito<\/em>\u00a0forever.\u00a0Hindi pupwede kasi<\/em>\u00a0(You cannot say that since you were granted a franchise, that\u2019s yours forever. That cannot happen because) you don\u2019t have a vested right to the privilege granted to you,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Before the denial of ABS-CBN\u2019s franchise bid, lawmakers at the House of Representatives tackled several issues hounding the network, such as the citizenship of ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio Lopez III, its issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts, and its supposed commission of alleged labor and tax violations.<\/p>\n

Panelo said a broadcast network, including ABS-CBN, will be stripped of its privilege to get a new franchise if it commits certain violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00a0ang mensahe is kung lumabag sa Saligang Batas ang mga may hawak ng prangkisa at kung ano pa mang mga batas na nilabag nito, yung pribilehiyong yun ay tatanggalin sa inyo<\/em>\u00a0(So the message is if a franchise holder violates the Constitution and the laws, you will not have the privilege to get a fresh franchise),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Critics have claimed that ABS-CBN\u2019s closure is supposedly a serious blow to press freedom, an accusation which Panelo denied.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Yung hindi pagbibigay ng prangkisa ay hindi \u2018yun babala sa<\/em>\u00a0press\u00a0upang huminto kayo sa inyong<\/em>\u00a0exercise\u00a0ng isang<\/em>\u00a0constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of the press (The failure to grant a franchise is not a warning to the press to prevent them from exercising the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of the press),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

ABS-CBN, upon the directive of the National Telecommunications Commission\u2019s (NTC) shutdown order, ceased its broadcast operations on May 5, or a day after the expiration of the network\u2019s legislative franchise.<\/p>\n

The NTC on June 30 also issued two cease and desist orders, directing ABS-CBN to halt the operation of its digital television transmission using Amcara Broadcasting Corp.\u2019s Channel 43 and the direct-to-home satellite transmission of its cable firm, Sky Cable Corp.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the network announced that it would cease the operations of its businesses and lay off workers starting August 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The failure of ABS-CBN Corp. to secure a fresh 25-year franchise from Congress is not a move closer to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":250203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262134,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262133\/revisions\/262134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}