Gabby Lopez defends dual citizenship during House hearing on ABS-CBN franchise

ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Gabby Lopez III on Wednesday stressed that having dual citizenship was never an issue in the actions he made when he was head of the broadcast company.

Lopez, who is both a Filipino and an American, made the remark during the joint hearing of the House Committees on Legislative Franchises and on Good Government and Public Accountability on the ABS-CBN franchise issue, in where his citizenship was being questioned.

During the hearing, Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor asked Lopez if he considered renouncing his American citizenship in order for him to fully become a Filipino citizen.

Lopez was born in 1952 in the United States from both Filipino parents, making him, under Philippine and American laws, both a Filipino and American citizen.

Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta alleged that Lopez was an American citizen when he took the helm of ABS-CBN in 1986, which he claimed is a violation of the constitutional provision that mass media companies should be 100% Filipino-owned.

Lopez, in response to Defensor, said he indeed considered renouncing his American citizenship.

"But the way I see it, I am first and foremost a Filipino. I will live and I will die in the Philippines. That has certainly been the family’s position," he said.

"Frankly, the issue of being a dual citizen is not even something that I think about. I know in my heart that I am a Filipino, and all my actions in the last 35 years I've been associated with ABS-CBN, has been to the service of the Filipino in my mind," he added.

Lopez told Defensor that renouncing his American citizenship, although he considered it, "was never something I felt was an issue in terms of any of my actions."

"If it came down to conflict of interest, I would give up my US citizenship in a minute," he added.

During the hearing, Lopez admitted that he travelled using an American passport before 2001, when he applied for recognition for Philippine citizenship. He however stressed he never renounced his Philippine citizenship.

He said he applied for recognition for Philippine citizenship in 2001 to recognize his being a natural-born Filipino citizen.

Lawyer Mario Bautista, counsel for Lopez, said that while the latter holds an American passport, it does not mean that he is not a Filipino citizen.

Bautista also said that Lopez's request for a recognition of his Philippine citizenship is only "for any legal purpose it may serve," and does not at all grant him Philippine citizenship.

This was concurred in by Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar.

"Doon sa pagbigay ng kumpirmasyon ng DOJ sa citizenship ni Mr. Gabby Lopez, hindi ito pamamaraan ng pag-grant o pag-perfect ng citizenship. Dahil siya ay may magulang, both father and mother, na Philippine citizen. Kaya sa kanyang pagkapanganak, siya ang Filipino citizen," she said.

"Ang kanyang paggamit ng US passport ay hindi dahilan para mawala ang kanyang Filipino citizenship. At ang kanyang hindi pagkakaroon ng Philippine passport ay hindi rin isang dahilan na hindi siya maging Filipino," she added.

Bautista also said based on the country's 1987 Constitution, Lopez's dual citizenship does not bar him from owning or managing a mass media company.

"Ang nakalagay sa Constitution ay dapat Pilipino ka, wala namang nakalagay doon na kailangan Pilipino ka lang," Bautista said.

The joint House panels began hearing the bills granting another 25-year franchise to ABS-CBN after the House leadership decided to drop the measure that would supposedly give the network a provisional franchise until October 31, 2020.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, himself an author of the provisional franchise bill, has said the issue on the ABS-CBN franchise has already become "so divisive" and is taking up the time even as there are more pressing matters to discuss such as that of COVID-19 response measures.

He, however, vowed to have a fair and comprehensive hearings on the issue at the committee level.

The joint hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise will resume on Monday, June 8. --KBK, GMA News