This is the statement of ABS-CBN regarding the bill filed to grant the company a new franchise.
Production and distribution company ABS-CBN has this statement after Rep. Joey Salceda filed a bill to grant them a franchise to operate.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda filed House Bill No. 11252 on Tuesday afternoon. This bill seeks to grant ABS-CBN a franchise to operate after they failed in their franchise renewal bid in 2020.
To recall, it was in May 2020 when the NTC issued a Cease and Desist Order against the Kapamilya network. In July 2020, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises rejected the 25-year franchise renewal bid.
There have been several issues cited that led to the failure such as the dual citizenship of chairman emeritus Eugenio Lopez III, and the possible violation of the constitutional limits on foreign ownership, reported labor and tax violations.
Salceda cited in the bill he filed that the media giant was cleared of any alleged legal violations during the deliberations of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises in the previous Congress. The explanatory note stated that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bureau of Internal Revenue clarified that the company has no violations in terms of ownership and no pending tax liabilities.
Apart from the loss of 11,000 direct jobs, he added, “You will remember that I even warned against the franchise rejection on grounds that it will add to Covid-19 infections due to lack of information.”
Regarding the bill, ABS-CBN released a statement about it and according to the company, they did not know such a move would be done by Salceda until it was filed. They are grateful for the support and belief that they have in the contributions of the media giant and in their mission to serve the Filipino people.
They are also grateful to other representatives such as Gabriel Bordado Jr., Arlene Brosas, France Castro, Raoul Manuel, Johnny Pimentel, and Rufus Rodriguez. They filed bills of the same intention previously.
Read the statement below:
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