Panel chair still awaiting House leadership’s directive on ABS-CBN franchise hearings — solon

The chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises is still waiting for directives of the House leadership regarding the conduct of the hearings on the ABS-CBN franchise bills, panel member Ako Bicol party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. said Wednesday.

In a virtual interview with reporters, Garbin said he talked with House panel chair Franz Alvarez Tuesday night and  Wednesday morning regarding the ABS-CBN franchise issue, and the latter said that while he is open to conducting the hearings already, he is still waiting for the guidance of the House leaders.

"Tinanong ko siya (Alvarez) kung magkakaroon ng meeting. Sabi niya he's still waiting for the directives from the House leadership. Of course, tinitignan niya rin kung paano ang pag-conduct ng hearing considering that we are on ECQ and mass gathering is prohibited," Garbin said.

"Ang committee chair ay talagang gustong magkaroon ng hearing base sa aking panayam kagabi at kaninang umaga pero may inaantay pa siyang mga tawag sakali kung paano gagawin ang hearing considering that we are on ECQ and total lockdown sa Metro Manila," he added.

Garbin said that should the House panel decide to conduct the hearings, physical attendance of lawmakers and other relevant individuals will be limited following social distancing protocols.

The lawmaker, however, could not give an exact date yet on when the hearings will be held.

"I think the committee and the members of the legislative franchises [panel] should act with dispatch considering the present situation. Nagsara na e. Dapat siguro bilisan na," Garbin said.

ABS-CBN went off air Tuesday night after it received a cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The TV network's franchise expired on Monday.

Since the beginning of the 18th Congress, at least 11 bills have been filed at the House to renew ABS-CBN's franchise, although the House legislative franchises panel only formally took them up on March 10.

During this hearing, NTC said under oath that it would grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN to operate past the expiration of its franchise. Although eventually, no provisional authority was issued and instead the network was ordered to cease its broadcast operations.

Garbin said he could not blame the public if it thinks the House panel dragged its feet on the ABS-CBN franchise issue, but he insisted that the lawmakers did not want the TV network to shut down.

"Congress, the House and the Senate, has always been consistent with the position na hindi magsara dahil nga sa mga previous practices and rulings ng NTC although hindi sila nagbibigay ng provisional authority but they allow entities whose franchise expired pending deliberations in the House of Representatives, pinapayagan nila," he said.

"Ang aming akala at base sa commitment na binigay nila nung March 10, yun ay susundin pa rin nila at yun pa rin ang kanilang rekomendasyon. Pero sa aming pagkadismaya and total disbelief, there was a complete turnaround of their position," he added.

Alvarez has yet to make a fresh remark on the issue, but he said in an interview on Wednesday that he would call the NTC in a hearing to explain the issuance of the cease and desist order.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, has yet to respond to requests from the media to react on the matter. — RSJ, GMA News