ABS-CBN shutdown order threatens press freedom —FOCAP

The National Telecommunications Commission’s order to shut down ABS-CBN Corporation’s television and radio stations threatens press freedom, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) said Tuesday.

“The order threatens press freedom at a time when the public needs an unfettered press the most,” FOCAP said in a statement.

“As the Philippines reels from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, ABS-CBN’s critical eye is needed now more than ever to help inform the public,” it added.

The NTC on Tuesday ordered ABS-CBN to cease broadcasting operations after its legislative franchise expired on Monday, May 4.

FOCAP said the NTC’s move was contrary to the “seeming assurance” of lawmakers and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra that a provisional license approved by either the NTC or the Congress would allow ABS-CBN to air.

“It follows a warning, on World Press Freedom Day no less, by the government’s top lawyer, Jose Calida, of graft charges should the NTC go through with issuing a temporary broadcast permit,” it said.

The commission’s order came two days after Solicitor General Calida threatened to file graft charges against commission officials if ABC-CBN is allowed to continue operations without a franchise.

“The move is clearly a case of political harassment against a pillar of Philippine democracy that employs thousands of Filipinos whose livelihoods are now at risk with the order,” FOCAP said.

“ABS-CBN's indefatigable journalists have fully embraced their role to provide the public with vital information on the pandemic despite risks to their health and safety,” it added.

FOCAP called on the Congress to independently act on pending measures seeking to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise.

“Our lawmakers must tackle these measures as soon as possible, and uphold the freedom of the press that the 1987 Constitution guarantees,” it said.

Earlier, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the NTC succumbed to President Rodrigo Duterte’s wishes to gag ABS-CBN.

Meanwhile, Rappler Inc. also tagged NTC’s move as “an act of betrayal against the public.” 

In separate statements, both the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) and the Defense Press Corps (DPC) denounced the cease and desist order issued by the NTC.

"We feel that the shutdown of ABS-CBN, a media institution, at a time when all focus are on the novel coronavirus disease pandemic casts suspicion on the government's sincerity in truly addressing the crisis," the DPC said.

"Shutting down ABS-CBN and leaving 11,000 workers unemployed at a period of crisis serves no one. It serves only a dictatorship seeking to silence truth," it later added

The EJAP also pointed out that the network has been instrumental in disseminating information amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to this, the EJAP called on the NTC to withdraw its cease and disease order and issue ABS-CBN a provisional license, which the NTC has claimed it cannot do due to a lack of a valid congressional franchise.

"We likewise call on Congress to exercise its independence as a co-equal branch of government and give due course to the renewal of ABS-CBN Corp.'s franchise," the EJAP said.

"During this public health crisis, all stakeholders must act to ensure the free flow of information for the benefit of a better-informed and healthier citizenry and a more robust Philippine democracy," it added.— Ma. Angelica Garcia/Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News