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.
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.”
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.
