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Drilon: People’s initiative ‘available remedy’ to revive ABS-CBN’s franchise bid
By DONA MAGSINO,GMA NewsSenate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday said the Filipino people can grant the ABS-CBN Corporation another franchise to operate through the people's initiative.
Drilon said this move is an "available remedy" after the House Committee on Legislative Franchises turned down ABS-CBN's franchise application last Friday.
"The Constitution and the law do not exclude the enactment of a franchise, and does not make any distinction on the kind of law that can be enacted directly by the people through a people’s initiative," he said in a message.
"Where the law does not distinguish, we should not distinguish," he added.
Drilon, however, said Malacañang could raise issues to the Supreme Court to delay the people’s initiative.
The senator previously said he was saddened by the House panel's decision and that ABS-CBN may have to wait until 2022 until a new Congress is elected.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also said the House votes marked the "end of the road" for ABS-CBN's franchise application under the 18th Congress.
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Over the weekend, a lawyer drafted a proposal for a petition to grant the embattled broadcast network a franchise using Republic Act No. 6735 or the Initiative and Referendum Act.
"It is high time that we put Congress in its proper place and to counter their disservice to the People," lawyer Dino De Leon said. "We need not wait for 2022. We can strengthen our democratic institutions now without relying on another messiah who will promise to salvage us 'in three to six months.'"
On Sunday, Roque said that it's up to the high court whether or not the people's initiative would apply to ABS-CBN's franchise bid.
Under Section 5 of the Initiative and Referendum Act, "at least 10 percent of the registered voters in the country, of which every legislative district is represented by at least three percent of the registered voters thereof" shall sign the petition and register it with the Commission on Elections to exercise the power granted by the law. — RSJ, GMA News