House adjourns despite calls for action on ABS-CBN franchise renewal

The House of Representatives opened but then abruptly ended its session in less than five minutes on Tuesday due to the lack of attendees, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said.

“The House leadership has decided to adjourn today’s session due to lack of quorum,” Romualdez said in a statement.

Romualdez added that lady legislators are out on official business today outside the House of Representatives.

In a separate Facebook live video posted around 2 p.m., Speaker Alan Cayetano was seen joining women legislators in a Thanksgiving lunch.

The session in the House started at 3 p.m.

The abrupt end to the session came a day after Buhay party-list representative Jose “Lito” Atienza called for the resignation of Palawan representative Franz Alvarez as Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises since his Committee had failed to act on 11 pending bills seeking the renewal of broadcasting company ABS-CBN's franchise.

Atienza said that Congress should not drag its feet on the issue, considering that Congress was mandated by the Constitution to decide on franchises and that around 11,000 people stood to lose jobs once ABS-CBN’s franchise expires on March 30. — DVM, GMA News