Rep. Yap says ABS-CBN's 'unfair' coverage on Paolo Duterte prompted him to seek probe

ACT-CIS party-list Representative Eric Yap on Wednesday admitted that his personal reason for calling for an investigation into the probable violations of ABS-CBN of its franchise was the network's allegedly unfair reporting on the supposed involvement of Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte in the illegal drug trade.

In an ANC interview, Yap recalled the congressional hearings back in 2017 on the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs where former Customs broker Mark Taguba mentioned the name of Rep. Duterte, son of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Taguba served as the broker of the shipment who said he had transacted with the Davao Group of so-called "Tita Nanie," "Jack," and "Small." This group, according to him, collected bribes in exchange for the facilitation of shipments out of the Bureau of Customs without being alerted.

Taguba also said that Rep. Duterte, then vice mayor of Davao City, was being "name-dropped" by individuals the broker had previously tagged as receiving P27,000 bribe or "grease money" from him, that is, "Tita Nanie," "Jack," and "Small."

Taguba, however, eventually cleared Rep. Duterte from the involvement, saying that his knowledge on the latter's alleged link with the Davao Group was mere "hearsay."

Yap, however, claimed that ABS-CBN did not make a follow-up report to correct the impression made by Taguba, causing people to think that Rep. Duterte was indeed involved in the illegal drug trade.

"Wala nang bumawi doon, wala nang nagsabi sa news na hindi pala siya kasama dito. So ang nangyari ang naiwan sa utak ng tao na, 'Ah, ito drug lord ito.' Pero ang totoo, kumbaga hindi naman siya kilala ng tao," he said.

"Ang mga media is very, very powerful. Ang sa akin, kapag meron tayong great power, meron itong great responsibility. Ang sa akin, siyempre yung mga buhay ng tao na nasisira rin, yun din ang ibang concerns," Yap added.

Asked if this was Rep. Duterte's reason for filing a resolution to probe ABS-CBN's alleged violations of its franchise, Yap said: "Siya hindi, ako yun ang dahilan."

"Yung tao kaibigan ko. Kung sa tingin ko naman totoo yung mga sinasabi against him, hindi naman siguro ako magiging kaibigan niya," he said.

"So matagal ko nang kilala ang tao, doon ko lang nakita na ang tao pala, kahit gaano ka kabait, basta mabasa ka lang sa news na ganito, kahit hindi totoo, maniniwala ang ibang tao," Yap added.

Yap, Rep. Duterte, and Cavite Representative Abraham Tolentino have earlier filed House Resolution 853 seeking investigation into the probable violations of ABS-CBN of its franchise.

These supposed violations include the ABS-CBN's operation of a pay-per-view channel  through free-to-air signals, and the alleged issuance of Philippine Depository Receipts to non-Filipino citizens.

These were among the issues that Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta raised during the joint hearing of the House Committees on Legislative Franchises and on Good Government and Public Accountability on Tuesday regarding the ABS-CBN franchise issue.

While ABS-CBN was not given the opportunity during the joint hearing to respond to Marcoleta's claims, its president and CEO Carlo Katigbak already said during his prior opening remark that no court has determined that the company violated any law.

The next hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise issue is set on Monday, June 1. --KBK/AOL, GMA News