MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte once had a television program on ABS-CBN, which lasted for more than 15 years.
This was revealed by the network’s vice chairman Augusto Almeda-Lopez during the House joint panel hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise on Wednesday.
He was appealing to lawmakers to give ABS-CBN “a chance to show its worth and contribution to the country.”
“Maybe I should mention here that President Duterte used to have a program at ABS-CBN. He had a program for more than 15 years,” Almeda-Lopez said.
“There were several stations in Davao but he chose ABS-CBN,” he added, after which he was cut off by congressmen.
Almeda-Lopez touted the contributions of the media network to the country, such as its provision of entertainment and news to the public, as well as its charity-giving activities by the ABS-CBN Foundation.
“The franchise is not just Gabby Lopez or the PDRs. ABS-CBN has 11,000 employees and 630 stars and artists. We are the most popular network in the country,” he said.
“If you don’t renew our franchise, you’re going to deprive the public with so much entertainment, news, and the building of culture,” the ABS-CBN official added.
In 2017, Duterte threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise as he accused the network of estafa for not airing his ads in the 2016 elections campaign period.
READ: Duterte threatens to block franchise of ABS-CBN
He repeated this threat in 2018. In 2019, Duterte advised the officials of the network to just sell ABS-CBN.
At least 11 bills were filed in the House of Representatives in the 18th Congress seeking the renewal of the network’s franchise. However, the lower chamber, which is dominated by Duterte allies, was not able to take action on the measures before the ABS-CBN’s franchise expired on May 4 this year.
On May 5, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a Cease and Desist Order against ABS-CBN, directing the network to stop operating its television and radio broadcasting stations nationwide “absent a valid Congressional Franchise required by law.”
READ: NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop broadcast operations
ABS-CBN later that day went off air to comply with the NTC order.
The House panels on legislative franchises and good governance and accountability is on its 7th installation of inquiries on the ABS-CBN franchise issue. /JE