President Duterte Tirades Against ABS-CBN During His Last SONA

Here are some remarks of President Duterte versus the ABS-CBN network during SONA 2021.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE – During the last SONA of President Duterte, he dedicated a part to air his tirades versus the media and entertainment firm ABS-CBN Corp.

Last July 26, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his last State of the Nation Address (SONA), the second one he did amid the pandemic which prompted some guests to be physically present while the others joining through video calls. And in his last SONA, he expressed that he has fewer visions now and more remembrances. The pandemic has also accordingly stolen the growing economy of the country.

President Duterte SONA — Photo lifted from Rappler

But a part of his address has been dedicated to his tirades and remarks against the ABS-CBN. To recall, the network shut down under his administration and he has always been vocal about taking down the network after it failed to air his paid political advertisements during the 2016 national elections. And in this year’s SONA, he insisted that the network still has standing billions of unpaid taxes.

He does not mind anymore of the stories and articles that were written against him and his family by the network. He’s accordingly just after the unpaid taxes of the network which is why he fought for them. He said, “Nilamon ko na lang lahat ‘yun because I never wanted to appear vindictive but itong… they are cheating the government by billions in taxes.”

However, his remark about the network still owing billions from the government countered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) saying that ABS-CBN has no tax default. In a report, ABS-CBN has made some fact-checking regarding the tirades of the president

See:

He said that they should pay for a 40-hectare property but the compound in Quezon City is only 4.4 hectares.
BIR said that they are “regularly paying its corporate taxes for the past years” for about Php 15.3 billion from 2016 to 2019.
He said he has no problem with the network and does not want to be vindictive but as per ABS-CBN report, he said in 2017 that he would block the renewal, threatened in 2019 that they should not expect for their franchise to be renewed, and in 2020, his allies in the House of Representatives voted to junked the franchise application.

It has been over a year since the people lost ABS-CBN in free TV, however, despite the crippling effects of the shutdown, the network continued to serve the people as they shifted from free airing to digital airing.

Here are some remarks of President Duterte versus the ABS-CBN network during SONA 2021.

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