NUJP, other groups launch online petition to bring ABS-CBN back on air

MANILA, Philippines – Various media organizations, including the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), have launched an online signature campaign aimed at asking the government to bring back ABS-CBN on the air.

The petition, created on Tuesday, comes a week after ABS-CBN was forced to stop broadcasting due to the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

NTC issued the order a day after the network company’s much-discussed franchise expired last May 4.  According to NUJP, NTC must recall its CDO, while the House of Representatives must grant the 25-year franchise of ABS-CBN.

It also calls on the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order on the cease-and-desist order, as such declarations strip the country of its largest media organization amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The signing off of broadcast network ABS-CBN not only endangers the employment of its 11,000 workers but, just as important, if not more so, affects the lives of citizens as well,” NUJP said in a statement.

“Government clearly trampled on freedom of the press and of expression when it forced the network to go off air […] We affirm our signatures to appeal to the following government agencies to bring Channel 2, DZMM, MOR, and Channel 23 back on air,” they added.

Aside from NUJP, other notable media watchdogs like the Asian Center for Journalism, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism have joined in the petition.

Other alternative media sites and campus papers such as Davao Today, MindaNews, and the Philippine Collegian have also joined the call.

The online campaign can be accessible through this site: AN APPEAL TO BRING CH2, DZMM, MOR AND CH23 BACK ON AIR.

As of this writing, over 2,800 online users have signed the petition.

Last Tuesday, NTC issued the order after ABS-CBN’s franchise ended on May 4 — despite its previous assurance to the House of Representatives that a provisional authority to operate would be issued until the franchise is deliberated.

In a previous interview with ABS-CBN’s AM radio station DZMM, NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said that the reason why other media companies were allowed to operate without a franchise because their franchises’ validity was not questioned, unlike ABS-CBN.

Last February, Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN, based on allegations that the company was hiding foreign ownership behind a corporate veil.  However, Cabarios did not explicitly say whether the ‘questions’ stemmed from Calida’s complaint.

ABS-CBN has come under fire from President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters for its alleged biased coverage of him, and its refusal to air campaign advertisements before the 2016 Presidential elections.  Despite this, Duterte has maintained independence from the issue.

/atm