Poe seeks Senate inquiry on ABS-CBN franchise issue

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Grace Poe is pushing for an inquiry into the compliance of media giant ABS-CBN with the terms and conditions of its franchise.

Poe, who heads the public services committee, filed Senate Resolution 322 seeking to look into “the operations of ABS-CBN Corporation to determine compliance with the terms and conditions of its franchise under Republic Act No. 7966.”

The senator’s resolution noted that on March 30, 1995, Republic Act No. 7966 granting ABS- CBN Corporation a 25-year franchise to construct, install, operate and maintain television and radio broadcasting stations in the Philippines was passed into law.

A month before the network’s franchise expires, “a quo warranto case was filed against the grantee, ABS-CBN Corporation, on its alleged violations in its legislative franchise, ultimately seeking the revocation of the same,” the resolution added.

Poe, however, cited Article XII, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution which mandates that no “…such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress when the common good so requires”

“ABS-CBN’s own franchise provides that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires the power to amend, alter, or repeal is corollary to the power to review the compliance of a grantee with the terms and conditions of its franchise,” the resolution noted.

The senator filed the resolution on Wednesday after the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN earlier this week.

Through the petition, Solicitor General Jose Calida said the Supreme Court should revoke the Congressional franchise of ABS-CBN and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc., for violating its terms and the Constitution.

Calida cited “highly abusive practices” of the network “benefiting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers.”

ABS-CBN, however, maintained it did not violate any law governing its franchise and that it had secured all necessary approvals for its business operations.

GSG