Drilon hopes colleagues will consider the welfare of 11,000 ABS-CBN employees

MANILA, Philippines – Senate  Minority Franklin Drilon on Thursday expressed hope that when his fellow lawmakers vote on the franchise of ABS-CBN, their “conscience will bother them”  with the thought that  11,000 workers may end up jobless.

Until now, the House of  Representatives has yet to hold a hearing on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, which is expiring on March  30 this year.

Drilon insisted that there is no more time to tackle the franchise since Congress will go on  Lenten break on March 14. It will resume its session in May.

“By that time we come back in May,  the franchise has expired so that’s why I filed this joint resolution in order to give Congress time to review,” he said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.

He was referring to  Senate Joint Resolution No. 11 extending the ABS-CBN’s franchise until  December  31, 2022  while Congress tackles the allegations against the network.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1229747/drilon-files-resolution-extending-abs-cbn-franchise-until-2022

Drilon clarified that he filed the resolution not for the network, but to give Congress time to review the company’s compliance to its own franchise.

Since it’s a joint resolution, it must be approved both by the Senate and the House of Representatives before transmitting it to the President for signature.

The joint resolution,  he stressed, has the force and effect of a law.

When asked, however, if he was optimistic the House would approve his proposal,  Drilon said: “Well they said: Vote according to your conscience. Well,  hopefully, their conscience will bother them if 11,000 employees of  ABS-CBN  would lose their jobs. That’s the conscience that we should be looking at in this exercise.”

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1230190/go-to-vote-according-to-conscience-on-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal

He reiterated his opinion that the network may not be legally allowed to operate beyond  March 30   despite the pendency of bills in Congress seeking to renew its franchise for another  25 years.

“I’m just saying that I don’t want to risk the livelihood of the 11,000 ABS-CBN on a theory that ABS-CBN and its employees can continue after Mach 30 without a franchise,”  said Drilon, a former justice secretary.

The senator also dismissed insinuations there was politics behind his proposal to extend the franchise until December  2022 or after the term of President Rodrigo  Duterte.

“There’s no politics here,” he said, “Somebody said yesterday,  am I  playing politics by having a three-year extension? If trying  to   save the jobs of  11,000  ABS-CBN  employees    is politics, I admit I’m playing politics.”

“But I don’t think that’s a motive. I think we should not attribute motives to fellow legislators,”   Drilon added.

GSG