MANILA, Philippines — The quo warranto petition filed by the government to strip the franchise of broadcast giant ABS-CBN shows the government’s abuse of power, Vice President Leni Robredo said Tuesday.
“Panggigipit ito, ayon sa pansariling agenda ng iilang nasa poder. Samakatuwid: Pang-aabuso ito ng kapangyarihan,” Robredo said in a statement.
(This is harassment based on the selfish agenda of those in power. Hence, this is abuse of power.)
Solicitor General Jose Calida on Monday filed before the Supreme Court a quo warranto petition seeking to revoke the franchise of the media giant.
Moments after Calida filed the petition, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo stressed that President Duterte had nothing to do with the Solicitor General’s move.
The Vice President said that freedom of speech of the people is not just the right to freely speak, but to also monitor the truth.
Robredo said that the public must also monitor the “harassment” on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.
“Sino ang magtatakda ng totoo at ng mahalaga? Kapag sinamsam ng gobyerno ang kapangyarihang ito, sinasamsam din nila ang kolektibong tungkulin nating kilatisin ang katotohanan,” she questioned.
(Who will say what is the truth and what is important? If the government seizes this power, it also seized our collective duty to scrutinize the truth.)
“Linawin natin: Taliwas sa karaniwang proseso ng pag-renew ng prangkisa ang nangyayari,” she stressed.
(Let’s make this clear: This is different from the usual franchise renewal process that is being done.)
Robredo further warned: “Ang itanong nga po natin: Kung nagagawa ito sa pinakamakapangyarihang network sa ating bansa, gaano pa katagal para magawa ito sa iba pang mas malilit na network, sa mga pahayagan at istasyon ng radyo, at pati na sa sari-sarili nating mga social media feed, upang madiktahan tayo ng kung ano ang totoo at mahalaga?”
(May we ask: If this is being done to the most powerful network in our country, how long will it take to silence other networks, newspapers and radio networks, as well as our social media feed, to dictate what is true and what is important?)
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly threatened to block the franchise renewal of the broadcast media giant for supposedly violating laws.
At one point, he asked the Lopez family, who owns ABS-CBN, to just sell the network.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1207388/fwd-breaking-3-months-before-franchise-expires-duterte-tells-abs-cbn-to-just-sell-the-network
Under Republic Act 3846, all television and broadcasting companies must secure a franchise from Congress before they can operate.
ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to end on March 30, 2020.