Amcara admits ABS-CBN bought transmitter for Channel 43's digital broadcast

Amcara Broadcasting Network which holds the frequency Channel 43 admitted on Thursday that it has no transmitter for digital broadcast.

Amcara chairman Rodrigo Carandang told the House joint panel tackling the ABS-CBN franchise issue that it was ABS-CBN which bought the transmitter so it could use frequency Channel 43 for a test broadcast on digital TV.

Carandang made the remark amid allegations that ABS-CBN exercised "usufruct" when it used frequency Channel 43 to broadcast ABS-CBN's TVPlus channels.

During the hearing, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Jesus Crispin Remulla quizzed Carandang on the operations of Amcara.

Upon questioning,  arandang admitted that Amcara had yet to buy its own transmitter for digital TV.

"Ang totoo niyan, noong na-assign ang frequency ng Amcara na Channel 43 sa ABS-CBN noong nagsimula silang mag-test broadcast, ABS-CBN ang bumili ng mga transmitter para sa test broadcast," Carandang said.

Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said Amcara has no permit from the commission nor equipment for digital television, only for analog ones that date back to the 1990s.

ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak earlier said that while Channel 43 was temporarily assigned to ABS-CBN for its digital broadcasts in the past, the network was eventually given Channel 16 and Amcara, Channel 43.

Katigbak said viewers were able to watch their channels using ABS-CBN TVPlus because the network had a block-time agreement with Amcara to use Channel 43 for its digital broadcasts.

Under the block-time agreement, ABS-CBN may broadcast its content through Channel 43 for 21 hours a day, seven days a week.

But Cordoba, in Thursday's hearing, said the NTC wondered how Amcara could transmit digital signals under the block-time agreement with ABS-CBN when they knew it had no digital transmitter.

This prompted them to ask NTC engineers to conduct a check to see where the signal of Channel 43 was coming from when they issued a cease and desist order to stop the operations of the frequency, he said.

"Based on the RNS radio monitoring equipment, we observed that there is an existing broadcast propagation 6 megahertz band and the result of the measurement shows that a strong signal is emanating from the direction of ABS-CBN's tower along Mother Ignacia St., Quezon City," Cordoba said, reading the monitoring report of NTC engineers.

Carandang said a deed of assignment was currently being finalized so that the transmitter bought by ABS-CBN could be transferred to Amcara.

This agreement, he said, is awaiting approval from the NTC, and Amcara would pay ABS-CBN around P84 million for the transfer of this facility once approved.

The testimony of Carandang and Cordoba led Remulla to believe that Amcara was only a "dummy" of ABS-CBN.

"We have already elicited facts to show na itong Amcara ay isang moro-moro. That's the conclusion I'm drawing from it," Remulla said.

"I would not anymore waste my time asking questions on this issue kasi malinaw na a dummy relationship between ABS-CBN and Amcara is existing without any iota of doubt," he added.

He urged the House joint panels to have the National Bureau of Investigation verify the findings of NTC engineers.

Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta reiterated that the setup between Amcara and ABS-CBN was a "usufruct," and not a block-time agreement as the latter claimed.

"Kahit bali-baliktarin natin ang pangyayari, hindi blocktime yun. Ito ay tinatawag na usufruct, ine-enjoy niya yung gamit ng isang tao para sa kanyang kapakanan. Bawal kasi yun, kung rereviewhin niyo yung prangkisa ng Amcara," he added, referring to Section 11 of RA 8135 granting Amcara a franchise to operate.

Lawyer Tony Veloso, counsel for Amcara, however, maintained that what Amcara and ABS-CBN had was a block-time agreement, and it was not usufruct.

"Yung blocktime agreement, ever since ina-allow yun ng KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas). I was president and chairman also of the Standards Authority and we have rules and regulations governing blocktime agreements," Veloso said.

"And these agreements are usual in the broadcasting industry, and it is not a usufruct. We stand by that," he added.

ABS-CBN has yet to respond to the testimonies made by Carandang and Cordoba.

The House joint panel hearings on the ABS-CBN franchise issue will resume on Monday next week to tackle the alleged political biases of the network. — NB/RSJ, GMA News