NTC officials must be axed over ABS-CBN closure —Drilon

Officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should be fired over their decision to issue a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN Corporation for franchise expiration while deliberation of the matter is ongoing in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Thursday.

"The NTC Commissioners should be dismissed for their grave abuse of their discretion causing damage to society by depriving people of a major source of information on the pandemic, and causing the loss of jobs of 11,000 workers of ABS-CBN," Drilon said in a text message.

"The commissioners also displayed gross and inexcusable ignorance of the law when they disregarded precedents and the opinion of the DOJ," he added.

Confidence was lost on their ability to perform their duties in accordance with law when they backpedaled on their commitment to let ABS-CBN operate on provisional authority based on equity, according to Drilon.

On Tuesday, the NTC ordered the media network to halt its operations after its 25-year franchise lapsed on May 4. ABS-CBN has since been off-air.

Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. filed a bill seeking to abolish the NTC for being a "useless" agency.

"Our NTC, supposedly in charge of regulating and promoting the telecommunications industry has turned out to be one of the most inept and useless agencies whose only relevance lies in being another model for sheer wastage of taxpayer money," Abante said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, on the other hand, said the lower chamber should just focus on hearing the bill for ABS-CBN's franchise renewal.

"It's better they tackle their bill rather than blame NTC," he said.

Sotto earlier pointed out that the ABS-CBN's franchise bills had been languishing in the legislative mill since the 16th Congress.

Minority bloc Senator Leila De Lima also stressed that the matter has been sat on for years.

"Nakakatawang pakinggan ang mga kongresista na kunwari ay nagagalit sa National Telecommunications Commission dahil sa cease and desist order nila, pero sila mismo ang dahilan kaya tayo nakarating dito," she said in a statement.

"They passed the blame to NTC when they could have worked on the franchise renewal as early as the previous Congress," she added.

De Lima claimed that the shutdown was perpetrated by President Rodrigo Duterte and his "minions" in the House of Representatives.

Malacañang, on the other hand, said it is neutral on the issue and will keep its hands off as it pointed out that President Rodrigo Duterte does not have appellate jurisdiction over NTC and thus cannot order it to reverse its decision.

ABS-CBN filed a petition before the Supreme Court on Thursday asking for a temporary restraining order against NTC's cease and desist order.

Thirteen senators also filed a resolution on Thursday urging the NTC to reverse its decision. — BM, GMA News