Marcoleta urges critics to look at ‘avalanche of evidence’ vs ABS-CBN

After the House Committee on Legislative Franchises denied the franchise application of ABS-CBN  Corporation, Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta on Saturday lashed out at critics who needed to look at the "avalanche of evidence" of the network's violations.

"Which caused the curtailment of their media freedom? The House of Representatives? Obviously not. Ironically, the Human Rights Watch can't even dare to watch the avalanche of evidence established on how ABS-CBN abused its franchise, a rare privilege granted by the state!" Marcoleta told GMA News Online.

"Invoking press freedom is a convenient subterfuge to further mislead the people," he added.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) earlier lamented that the majority vote by the House committee was a blow to Philippine press freedom.

"Not since the dictator Ferdinand Marcos shut down ABS-CBN and other media outlets in 1972 has a single government act caused so much damage to media freedom," said Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division Phil Robertson.

"This move solidifies the tyranny of President Rodrigo Duterte who accused ABS-CBN of slights against him and politically targeted it for refusing to toe the government’s line and criticizing his so-called 'war on drugs,'" Robertson added in a statement.

Responding to comments by the rights group, Marcoleta said: "HRW is slowly losing its relevance, if not its credibility!"

Marcoleta was one of the two lawmakers who gave a summation of the issues and findings in the 12 lengthy hearings of the House Committees on Legislative Franchises and on Good Government and Public Accountability on the ABS-CBN franchise issue.

Marcoleta claimed ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Gabby Lopez III was indeed an American citizen, and ABS-CBN was not able to show proof that Lopez's parents were still Filipino citizens when he was born in the United States in 1952.

Marcoleta also maintained that ABS-CBN violated the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership and participation when it sold 187 million PDRs to foreign entities.

He added that the hearings were able to prove that "ABS-CBN violated its franchise by airing multiple channels through TVPlus," that the network "sold digital receivers of black boxes to the viewing public without the approval of NTC," and that "it offered pay-per-view events through TVPlus without the approval of NTC." — DVM, GMA News