Drilon debunks Go’s claim on reso to extend ABS-CBN operations

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon debunked the claims of neophyte Senator Christopher “Bong” Go that the concurrent resolution he filed seeking to extend the operations of ABS-CBN pending the renewal of its franchise is political.

“I regret the statement of Senator Bong Go. Being a neophyte senator, he may not be aware of our tradition and our rules. Precisely, a concurrent resolution does not go through the President because it has no force and effect of law. It is just a sense of the Senate,” Drilon told reporters in an interview on Wednesday.

“There is no politics here. We are not depriving the President of the right to veto or approve… A concurrent resolution simply expresses the sense of the Senate, and therefore, it does not really need the approval of the President,” he explained.

He said the joint resolution — which seeks to extend ABS-CBN’s franchise beyond May this year — is the one that needs approval from the President.

“The right to veto or approve is in the joint resolution (Senate Joint Resolution No. 11) that I filed, which has the force and effect of a law and which is also filed in the House of Representatives,” Drilon said.

“A concurrent resolution simply expresses the sense of the Senate, and therefore, it does not really need the approval of the President. It is the joint resolution that needs the approval of the President,” he added.

Go, in a separate interview with reporters, said that the concurrent resolution filed by the Senate minority leader was “superfluous.”

He claimed that the bid to extend the franchise until past the end of the President’s term is tainted with politics.

“Yung resolution ni Senator Drilon nahahaluan kasi yun ng politika. Bakit po natin ide-deprive sa presidente yung power to approve or to veto a franchise kung lampas na po ng kanyang termino kung saka-sakaling aprubahan man po ito,” Go said.

Edited by EDV