Yap claims 'emissary' offered P200-M bribe; ABS-CBN denies

ACT-CIS party-list Representative Eric Yap has claimed that an alleged emissary who supposedly came from ABS-CBN has offered him P200 million in exchange for his vote to grant the network another 25-year franchise.

Yap made the remark as the House Committee on Legislative Franchise nears its voting on the bills seeking to give the embattled media giant a new lease to operate.

ABS-CBN denied the claim.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Yap said the supposed emissary from ABS-CBN called him more than two weeks ago.

"May tumawag sa atin, nagpakilalang emisaryo ng ABS CBN at hinihimok tayong bumoto pabor sa ABS CBN kapalit ng P200 million pesos," he said.

"Simple lang ang sagot ko, hindi for sale ang prinsipyo at boto ko," he added.

Yap said he did not release the said incident to the media because he was not sure if it actually was an emissary from ABS-CBN.

"Unfair naman na malalagay sa alanganin ang pangalan ng ABS CBN dahil sa kanya at unfair din maging sa proceedings ng Joint Committee na tumatalakay sa issue ng prangkisa nila," he said.

"May nadinig tayo na iba pang kaso gaya nito pero hindi natin nilabas dahil hindi din verified ang mga information na yun," he added.

Yap said that press freedom in the country is alive and well to the point that it is being abused by some people for its own interests.

"Marami tayong kaibigan sa media na balanse at mataas ang antas at integridad ng pagsusulat at pagbabalita," he said.

"Pero sadyang may iilan na mas matimbang ang pagiging bias at walang pakialam kung tama ang laman ng balita. Do not mislead the public. They deserve to know the truth," he added.

But ABS-CBN, in a statement on Thursday, denied Yap's remarks.

"ABS-CBN did not send an emissary to bribe any lawmaker to vote in favor of our franchise application," the company said.

"We believe in the process and we have participated in the process.  We answered all issues raised in the past 12 hearings," it added.

The House Committees on Legislative Franchises and on Good Government and Public Accountability have wrapped up their deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise issue on Monday after 12 lengthy hearings.

However, no schedule on the voting to whether or not grant ABS-CBN another 25-year franchise has so far been announced.  —LDF/NB, GMA News