MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday broke his silence on the issue of the ABS-CBN franchise renewal, sCongress will rise to the occasion and “fix the mess” others have made.
“We would have wanted to do this in an orderly manner. But what we want and what we have to deal with are two different things. So this Congress has no choice but to once again rise to the occasion and fix the mess others make,” Cayetano said in a Facebook post.
ABS-CBN went off the air Tuesday night in compliance with the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) order to stop its broadcast operations after its franchise lapsed on May 4.
Cayetano said the House Committee on Legislative Franchises will conduct hearings that are “fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive.”
The House could have been “on track” with its priority legislations, Cayetano said, if not only for the eruption of the Taal volcano in January.
“This was aggravated by the growing threat of COVID-19, which as early as February 14, I was already mentioning as another urgent matter that Congress would have to immediately deal with,” Cayetano added.
There are at least 11 bills on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN that remain pending before the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.
Lawmakers earlier banked on the NTC’s assurance that it will granting the network a provisional authority while franchise renewal is being tackled n Congress.
Prior to NTC’s issuance of a cease and desist order, Solicitor General Jose Calida warned the NTC against granting provisional authority to let ABS-CBN operate while its franchise renewal was pending in Congress.