Cayetano sees no urgency in House hearing on ABS-CBN franchise bills

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday said there is no sense of urgency on the part of the House of Representatives in deliberating on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal bills.

In Taguig City, Cayetano told reporters that the pending bills are important, but the urgency to hear them immediately is not there considering that ABS-CBN will not shut down, and that Congress only has six session days left before the Lenten break.

He said that he could call a hearing just to satisfy the pressure from the media, but it will "do more harm than good."

"Siyempre sa hearing papayagan natin ang ABS-CBN management na mag-opening statement. That will take up, what, 20% of the hearing. Yung mga nag-object, assuming na 10 ang mag-oobject o kahit lima lang, baka dalawa o tatlo lang ang marinig namin then we'll stop the hearing then magbe-break kami," Cayetano said.

"Won't that be unfair sa ABS-CBN? So the whole break for the next five, six weeks, ang news yung nag-object lang, ni hindi sila makasagot," he added.

Alternatively, Cayetano said they can allow one objector to talk followed immediately by a response from ABS-CBN, but that would not allow the hearing to be framed properly.

"So what we're after here is a fair hearing and a serious discussion on the role of media in our democracy and how we can put rules and regulations that is fair for everyone, not to Duterte and his allies, not to the Liberal Party and their allies, but to everyone," he added.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the apology issued by ABS-CBN CEO Carlo Katigbak over the chief executive's unaired campaign ads during the 2016 presidential election.

Cayetano said he is glad that ABS-CBN admitted their mistakes and is willing to correct them.

"I'm very happy na napatawad na ng ating Pangulo because I've always told you, he's a spiritual person, hindi lang siya religious, and he's a just person," he said.

But the Speaker said the issue is not only about the President, but mainly on how to strike a balance between democracy, media and press freedom, the role of big businesses and political actors in the country.

"Walang democracy kung walang press freedom. And press freedom does not mean kapag sinara mo yung isa at nag-ooperate yung iba, may press freedom ka. Ako hindi naniniwala doon. Kasi may tinatawag na chilling effect, na kapag sinara mo yung isa tapos tinakot mo yung iba, kahit bukas yung iba," he said.

"But also, if corporations own, bug business own media entities, and they dictate kung sino ang iboboto o anong anggulo ng mga issue, that will also kill democracy," he added.

In the hearings, Cayetano said they will tackle several issues such as those of the employees, the supposed intervention of the ABS-CBN management in the 2010 and 2016 elections, and the reforms that the TV network is willing to do to ensure fair coverage.

"We will have fair hearings, we will schedule them. And may I remind everyone whether you're pro or against, anumang organization, we won't take it against you personally," he said.

Currently, there are 11 bills filed at the House of Representatives seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN which is set to expire on May 4.

Last Monday, Committee on Legislative Franchises chair Franz Alvarez announced the panel is now open to accepting position papers for or against the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise, signalling the start of the proceedings of the chamber on the matter.

He said that once all position papers have been taken into consideration, the panel can formally start deliberating on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal bills. This, however, could take place either in May or in August, after Duterte's State of the Nation Address.

Alvarez  and Cayetano sent a letter to the National Telecommunications Commission to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate effective May 4 until the House of Representatives has made a decision on its franchise renewal application. —LBG, GMA News