Palace: SolGen's quo warranto bid vs. ABS-CBN not an encroachment on legislative powers

Malacañang on Tuesday disputed the claim of some congressmen that the Office of the Solicitor General’s bid for the forfeiture of ABS-CBN Corporation's franchise encroached on the power of Congress.

House Deputy Speaker Johnny Pimentel and Cagayan De Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez have argued that only Congress can grant or repeal any franchises under the Constitution.

“Causing the forfeiture of a franchise is different from not granting a franchise. The former is exercised by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in accordance with its legal mandate, while the latter is undertaken by Congress pursuant to its legislative powers,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

“It is for this reason that members of the Congress need not fret as there is no encroachment upon their authority as a result of the recent undertaking by the OSG.”

Panelo added the quo warranto petition may proceed independently and simultaneously with any action of Congress on bills seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN.

The franchise will expire on March 30.

In its petition, the OSG alleged that the network had been operating a pay-per-view channel without the necessary permit from the government and that it issued Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreigners.

ABS-CBN said it did not violate the law. and described the petition as an effort to shut down the network, which earned the President Rodrigo Duterte’s ire for allegedly not airing a political ad that was already paid for by his campaign team in 2016.

“The remarks of the President against ABS-CBN are utterances of displeasure as he felt deceived by the latter for receiving the former’s money for campaign advertisements without even airing them,” Panelo said.

“These utterances are covered by the free speech clause of our Constitution and have nothing to do with the press freedom of ABS-CBN.”

The Palace official said Duterte’s remarks against ABS-CBN were “immaterial to the revocation or non-granting of a franchise to ABS-CBN,” arguing that these actions belong to the judiciary and the legislature, respectively, both of which are independent and separate from the Executive branch that the President heads. —KBK, GMA News