MANILA, Philippines—The Makabayan bloc in Congress vehemently condemned the shutdown of ABS-CBN on Tuesday evening and accused the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that it wouldn’t have issued its cease and desist order if not for the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement sent out Wednesday, the group said that Duterte may have supposedly forgiven ABS-CBN’s management but the Chief Executive never retracted his previous statement of closing the situation—a stance he held for several years during his presidency.
Makabayan bloc also said that it was because of Duterte’s threats that the House of Representatives did not take up on the approval of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal for years.
ABS-CBN’s shutdown also came during the Philippines’ battle against COVID-19, and the Makabayan bloc even likened the action to when former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos also barred the network from broadcasting in 1972 after he declared martial law.
“This treacherous attack did not even consider that we are battling the COVID pandemic now and we need sources of credible and accurate information; not the fake news generated by the administration’s troll farms,” said the Makabayan bloc. “Only dictators like Marcos shut down independent media.
“The shutdown of ABS-CBN at the behest of Malacañang shows that President Duterte is determined to use the current crisis brought about by the CoViD pandemic to further advance his drive for tyrannical rule,” it added.
Duterte has been critical of the media since his presidency started in 2016, calling the press “biased” for its coverage of the drug war that left thousands dead, and Makabayan bloc argued that the shutdown of ABS-CBN was another way for the president to ramp up his alleged dreams of declaring martial law.
“We are calling on the Filipino people to stand for press freedom and make your voices heard. Join online and offline protests. Write to NTC, congressmen, senators and to Pres. Duterte to state your opposition to ABS-CBN shutdown. Start a signature drive to push for the reopening of the station,” said Makabayan bloc.