ABS-CBN required to give 10% of paid ads to Gov’t under House Bill 6732

HB 6732 requires ABS-CBN to give 10% of its paid advertisements to the government

TV giant ABS-CBN is being required to give to the government the 10 percent of its paid advertisements under the House Bill 6732 that seeks for its provisional franchise.

The said bill was penned by Representative Alan Peter Cayetano along with seven other House leaders. This will grant the network its provisional franchise while the congressmen are deliberating on its 25-year franchise.

abs-cbn hb 6732
📷: Starmometer

However, based on the report from Rappler, there is a notable difference between the HB 6732 and the previous bills passed in the past. It is because in Section 4 on the Responsibility to the Public of the bill, the network is required to dedicate “adequate public service time”. This will allow the government to relay “important public issues”, especially in the times of calamities.

The said public service time has this definition: “10% of the paid commercials or advertisements which shall be allocated based on the need to the executive, legislative, judiciary, constitutional commissions, and international humanitarian organizations duly recognized by statutes.”

With this, based on the article if this bill will be signed into law, ABS-CBN has to air more commercials that are sponsored by the government until its provisional franchise ends on October 31, 2020.

ABS-CBN Statement
📷:Esquire Philippines

Aside from this, the bill also orders the National Telecommunications Commission to increase the public service time if there is a calamity or emergency. The NTC is also tasked to craft rules and regulations on public service time. This will then be applied to other broadcast companies.

Based on the report, Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano said that they aim to pass the HB 6732 on third and final reading on Monday, May 18, 2020.

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