Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s present situation is “very far” from the 1972 martial law under the Marcos regime even after the government moved to shut down ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast network, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.
Roque countered the claim of Bishop Broderick Pabillo who said the shutdown of the broadcasting giant is a move closer to martial law.
“Nirerespeto po natin ang opinyon ni Bishop Pabillo. Pero ang katotohanan po, bukas po ang Kongreso, bukas po ang Supreme Court at ang ating ibang hukuman, bukas po ang mga media outlets bukod lang po sa ABS-CBN dahil nawalan nga siya ng prangkisa,” Roque said in a televised press briefing in Malacañang.
(We respect the opinion of Bishop Pabillo. But the truth is Congress is still open, the Supreme Court and lower courts are still open, media outlets are still open except for ABS-CBN because it’s franchise expired.)
“So sa tingin ko po, malayong malayo tayo sa sitwasyon ng martial law noong 1972,” he added.
(So I think the present situation is very far from the 1972 martial law.)
ABS-CBN went off air on Tuesday evening in compliance with a cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) pending congressional approval of its franchise renewal.
ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise expired on May 4. But lawmakers were expecting NTC to release a provisional franchise to the network after they failed to pass any of the bills filed seeking to extend the media giant’s legislative franchise.
President Duterte has also publicly threatened to block the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN for not airing a paid 2016 presidential campaign advertisement.
Late last year, Duterte even vowed that he will see to it that ABS-CBN will be “out.”
ABS-CBN has already apologized to Duterte, who eventually accepted the apology.
According to Roque, Duterte is neutral on the issue and that lawmakers should now vote on the ABS-CBN franchise based on their conscience.