ABS-CBN to have ‘time and day’ in House for franchise renewal –solon

House Committee on Legislative Franchises Vice-Chair Tonypet Albano on Sunday assured ABS-CBN Corporation that it would have its "time and day" at the chamber for deliberations on the measures seeking its franchise's renewal.

In a statement, Albano echoed Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's claim that timing was essential in dealing with the renewal of the broadcast giant's franchise due to its "complexities."

He maintained that although ABS-CBN's franchise was expiring on March 30, Congress had enough time to discuss it within the whole term of the 18th Congress, up to June 30, 2022, due to the pending bills.

"Therefore, it is imperative that the timing and scheduling for the committee hearing has to be perfect, right, and conducive... lest we sacrifice the station due to all these animosities and negative emotions that are hounding it today," Albano said.

"Worse, we suddenly might end up rejecting the network’s franchise to the detriment of the 11,000 employees and families that rely on the network for their very livelihood if we rush this," he added.

Albano also reiterated that the 18th Congress was not a rubber stamp of President Rodrigo Duterte, despite Duterte being their coalition leader.

The lawmaker added that they would merely listen to the President's statements, which they could either adopt or disregard.

"If we were really a rubber stamp of the President as our critics claim, then we should have just calendared the hearing of the ABS-CBN franchise and outright reject it due to the large number of complaints that the network is facing from politicians, businessmen, businesses, actors, producers, and many more," he said.

"Additionally, if indeed we are not independent-minded, why should we in the very strong house majority 'kowtow' when we have the numbers and can muster enough votes to vote out the franchise?" he added.

Albano said that scheduling the hearing for the ABS-CBN franchise bills for Monday did not guarantee its renewal. At the same time, each lawmaker also had their own pet national and local bills that were more pressing and took a lot of their time.

"Now, do we immediately calendar the ABS-CBN franchise bill when we have two more years to finish it, ahead of the above more important work affecting millions of our countrymen this very day and hour? Or should we prioritize our work in Congress to accommodate more pressing bills with important life-threatening situations?" he asked.

"There will be a proper time and timing for ABS-CBN to be heard in the Franchise committee with the intentions of having a thorough, fair and honest-to-good hearing. We intend to give ABS CBN its intended 'time and day' to answer all the critics, and to debate throughly on the merits of the case at hand, in order to make sure that the committee report is not only fair, but good for all stakeholders," he added.

Last Monday, Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a quo warranto petition seeking to revoke its franchise due to alleged foreign ownership and bypassing of authority of the NTC.

The ABS-CBN has maintained that it has not violated any law. — Erwin Colcol/DVM, GMA News