MANILA, Philippines — “There will be a reckoning,” House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Friday as he slammed the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for “succumbing to the pressure” of the “unconstitutional meddling” by Solicitor General Jose Calida over the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue.
Cayetano broke his silence days after the ABS-CBN shut down its broadcast operations following an order from the NTC after the network’s franchise lapsed on May 4.
“Despite their assurance given under oath. Despite the legal opinion of the Department of Justice. Despite a resolution from the Senate, and several verbal and written assurances given to Congress – the NTC appears to have succumbed to pressure from the Solicitor General, and issued a cease and desist order to ABS-CBN,” Cayetano said in a Facebook post.
“As for the sudden flip-flopping of the NTC and the unconstitutional meddling by the Solicitor General in the business of Congress, I promise you – there will be a reckoning,” he added.
House leaders banked on NTC’s assurance that it will grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate while bills seeking the renewal of the media giant’s franchise remain pending before the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.
Thus, in February, Cayetano and Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Alvarez, who chairs the committee on legislative franchises, sent a letter to the NTC enjoining the commission to grant a provisional authority to operate to ABS-CBN effective on May 4, 2020, “until such time that the House of Representatives/Congress has made a decision on its application.”
In a hearing conducted in March, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba promised to follow the advice of the DOJ allowing ABS-CBN to operate while its franchise renewal bid is pending in Congress.
“With this assurance, we wasted no time in addressing the bigger threat facing the country,” Cayetano said.
“During the two-month Congressional break, our members, led by Majority Floor Leader Martin Romualdez worked tirelessly to address the now COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
However, on May 5, one day after ABS-CBN’s franchise lapsed, the NTC issued a cease and desist order against the network—a move that Cayetano called as a form of “ambush”.
“Last Tuesday we were all ambushed by the NTC,” Cayetano said.
“While this unnecessarily complicates the issue, it does not change the fact that the exclusive Constitutional authority to grant, deny, extend, revoke, or modify broadcast franchises; Including having the primary jurisdiction to make an initial determination whether an application for a legislative franchise should be granted or denied – still resides in Congress, and Congress alone,” Cayetano said.
Cayetano assured that Congress will do its job and “fix the mess others made.”
“So for those asking what Congress will do – the answer is simple – our job. The Committee on Legislative Franchises will conduct hearings in a manner that is consistent with what we have always said. That is – fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive,” Cayetano said.
“So this Congress has no choice but to once again rise to the occasion and fix the mess others make. To our critics, in and outside of the House, you are free to say what you will. As we are free to respond in our own way,” he added.
Cayetano explained that Congress had to make adjustments to its calendar due to various events in the country particularly the eruption of Taal Volcano which was “aggravated” by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is in this context that the leadership of the House tried to gain a consensus with the Executive Department, through the DOJ and the NTC, to allow us time to properly address the ABS-CBN issue in the midst of all the other more important problems facing the country,” Cayetano said.