ABS-CBN shutdown a social tragedy – Poe

A man wearing a mask walks pasta makeshift memorial outside the headquarters of broadcast network ABS-CBN on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. A government agency has ordered the country’s leading broadcast network, which the president has targeted for its critical news coverage, to halt operations. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines — Stopping the operations of the country’s biggest media network goes beyond shutting down one company, Senator Grace Poe said as she pointed out that the cease and desist order against ABS-CBN was a “tragedy to society.”

“When you threaten one media outlet or when one media outlet is in jeopardy, this also sends out a signal to others that we better be watching our back, we better be careful, and somehow that poses as a threat for others who would like to cover the news fairly,” said Poe, who heads the Senate’s Public Services Committee, on ABS-CBN News Channel on Thursday.

“I think that this has a larger impact than just ABS-CBN. This is not just a tragedy for one person or one company. Hindi lang ito trahedya ng iisang kompanya, ito ay trahedya ng lipunan,” she added.

Poe’s statement comes after ABS-CBN went off air Tuesday night following the cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) after the network’s franchise expired on May 4.

The NTC earlier assured Congress that it would grant ABS-CBN provisional authority to continue to operate while its franchise renewal remains pending.

In an Order dated May 5, 2020, however, the NTC directed ABS-CBN to stop operating its television and radio broadcasting stations nationwide “absent a valid Congressional Franchise required by law.”

NTC cited Republic Act No. 3846 or the Radio Control Law which states that “no person, firm, company, association, or corporation shall construct, install, establish, or operate a radio transmitting station, or radio receiving station used for commercial purposes, or a radio broadcasting station, without having first obtained a franchise therefor from the Congress of the Philippines.”

But Poe said the law should be used to “as a tool for fairness” and “not just used for the caprices of a few.”

The senator then pointed to efforts by the government’s chief lawyer to have ABS-CBN’s franchise revoked.

On February 11, Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the revocation of ABS-CBN’s franchise over alleged violations through a quo warranto petition filed before the Supreme Court

Days before the NTC issued the cease and desist order against ABS-CBN, Calida also warned the agency against granting the network provisional authority in the absence of a legislative franchise.

He even said the NTC commissioners could risk being prosecuted under the country’s anti-graft and corruption laws should they grant ABS-CBN provisional authority to operate.

“It seems now it’s really clearly Solicitor General Calida who’s shouting loud and clear that ABS-CBN should has to be shut down and I wonder really that where that’s coming from,” Poe said.

“To the NTC, particularly (NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba), I have known him to be quite a nice person and it’s easy to talk to him that’s why I’m really disappointed about why he had to resort to this order to shut down operations,” Poe added.

GSG

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