House invites Enrile to attend next hearing ‘to shed light’ on Lopez acquisition of ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines — As the House of Representatives tackles the constitutionality of the acquisition of the Lopez family of ABS-CBN following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, a motion was made to invite former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile in the next hearing.

It was Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor who made the motion to invite Enrile in the next joint hearing of the House committee on legislative franchises and the committee on good government and public accountability on ABS-CBN’s bid for a 25-year franchise.

According to lawmakers, Enrile is the one who executed the sequestration order to ABS-CBN and other broadcasting companies during the Marcos regime.

“Maybe in the next hearing, just a short presentation or a short discussion, if we may invite former senator Enrile to shed light on the history of ABS-CBN,” Defensor said.

Defensor believes that Enrile has “first-hand knowledge [of] what really transpired” in the history of ABS-CBN.

Bulacan 1st District Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, who chairs the House committee on good government and public accountability, then ordered the committee secretary to extend an invitation to Enrile for the next hearing.

“The committee secretary is hereby directed to give an invitation to former senator Enrile na sabi nga nila ay ang nag-execute ng sequestration order para sa ABS-CBN at sa lahat ng broadcasting companies sa susunod na hearing,” Sy-Alvarado said.

In the same hearing, ABS-CBN counsel Arecio Rendor Jr. underscored the constitutionality of the reclamation of the Lopezes of ABS-CBN following the Marcos regime.

Rendor said that the Lopez family never lost ownership of ABS-CBN despite its shut down in 1972 due to the declaration of martial law by former president Ferdinand Marcos.