Alvarez: House has to wait for NTC answer before acting on ABS-CBN franchise renewal

LOOK: A pedestrian walks past the ABS CBN headquarters in Quezon City on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, a day after the NTC orders it to stop operation due to non-renewal of its license by Congress. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on legislative franchises still has to wait for the explanation of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) before they act on the bills seeking the renewal of franchise of media giant ABS-CBN.

Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Alvarez, who chairs the legislative franchises committee, bared this Monday, nearly a week since ABS-CBN’s shutdown.

Alvarez was referring to the show cause order it served to NTC, directing four officials of the commission to explain why they should not be cited in contempt after ordering ABS-CBN to stop its broadcast operations.

“Sa ngayon, aantayin muna natin ang sagot ng NTC dahil doon natin madi-discern ang aming susunod na mga hakbang (For now, we still have to wait for NTC’s response because from there, we can discern our next steps),” Alvarez said in an interview with DZMM.

“Aantayin lang talaga natin yang sagot ng NTC [dahil] malaking bagay at malaking issue ang maka-klaro nyan kapag nakabigay ng sagot ang NTC so titingnan muna natin. Doon naka-base ang lahat,” he added.

(We really have to wait for NTC’s response because huge issues will be clarified once the NTC responds so we still have to look into that. That is where everything will be based on.)

The NTC has 72 hours from the receipt of the order to submit their explanation. NTC received on Monday afternoon, May 11, as per the office of House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

On March 10, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba told members of the House that they will follow the advice of the Department of Justice (DOJ), allowing ABS-CBN to operate while its franchise renewal bid is pending in Congress.

But on May 5, the NTC issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against ABS-CBN, directing the network to stop its broadcast operations since its franchise had already expired.

Alvarez has said that the NTC officials may be held in contempt for backtracking on its word.

What will be an acceptable reason then?

Now the question is, what will be deemed as an acceptable reason for NTC’s cease and desist order against ABS-CBN? Alvarez says, legal issues.

“Kung meron naman silang kunwari i-cite na legal issue na ibig sabihin natali ang kanilang kamay, wala silang ibang choice kundi mag-issue ng CDO then siguro masa-satisfy ang committee dahil legal na po yun eh,” Alvarez said.

(If they cite a legal issue, let’s say their hands were tied because of that legal issue they saw and they were left with no choice but to issue a CDO, then maybe that will satisfy the committee because that’s a legal matter.)

“Pero kung ang kanilang reason ay hindi naman talaga matibay, then hindi pa rin tayo masa-satisfy nyan,” he added.

(But if their reasoning is not strong, then we will not be satisfied.)

Alvarez said that the show cause order they served the NTC is an opportunity for the commission to “once and for all” clarify the issue and the reason behind its CDO against ABS-CBN.

The lawmaker, however, reiterated that a broadcast network is still allowed to operate despite an expired franchise as long as it has a pending application.

“Ano ba talaga ang naging reason? Baka nga naman meron talaga silang legal na issue na nakita para mag-CDO ang kanilang i-issue. Ito, tamang venue na rin para masagot nila talaga,” Alvarez said.

(What is the reason? Maybe they indeed observed a legal issue to serve a CDO. This is the right venue for them to respond.)

JPV