MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Sunday said the proposed provisional franchise for media giant ABS-CBN that is being pushed at the House of Representatives is most “likely” invalid.
Enrile was responding to a question from a netizen who commented on his Facebook post about the franchise woes of the network. The netizen asked him if the provisional franchise being pushed in the lower chamber is “invalid,” to which the former senator replied: “It is likely.”
Under House Bill No. 6732, ABS-CBN will be granted a provisional franchise valid until October 31, 2020. The bill was approved on the first and second readings last Wednesday.
The netizen was commenting on Enrile’s post where he questioned the legislative power or authority of Congress to grant ABS-CBN a temporary franchise after its 25-year franchise expired on May 4. ABS-CBN stopped broadcasting on television and radio on May 5 in compliance with a cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Office (NTC).
“How the House of Representatives can rush such a temporary franchise bill is beyond my ken. It must comply with the Constitution’s explicit mandatory directive that ‘No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. . . .’ [Article VI, Section 26 (2)],” Enrile said.
“But a question thus arises: Does Congress really have the legislative power or authority to grant such a temporary franchise to ABS-CBN – or to anyone else similarly situated – to enable it to carry on and continue the business of a mass media enterprise whose franchises have already reached their terminal end? I do not think so,” he said.
But if Congress really has the constitutional power or authority to grant ABS-CBN a temporary legislative franchise despite the expiration of its old franchises, Enrile said other questions will still follow.
“How temporary would the temporary franchise be? Or to put it more explicitly: How long a time would that temporary franchise last? Would the duration of that temporary franchise be deducted from the maximum period of fifty (50) years allowed under the Constitution for each and every legislative franchise granted by Congress?” he added.
Meanwhile, the former Senate President also noted that “political pandemonium broke loose and intervened” and “blames splashed all-around” due to the NTC order issued to the network.
“When the political storm subsided somewhat, NTC ended up the bad guy and the convenient whipping boy,” he said.