Solon seeks Ombudsman case vs NTC chief over ABS-CBN airing via digibox

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Monday prodded a House panel to file a case before the Ombudsman against National Telecommunications Commission chief Gamaliel Cordoba for allowing ABS-CBN to air its shows on its TV Plus channels despite having a cease and desist order (CDO).

Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said the NTC “disobeyed” Congress by allowing ABS-CBN to operate via digibox even without a franchise.

“I believe we already found ground for this committee to file a case with the Ombudsman against Commissioner Cordoba because he has willfully disobeyed the power of Congress to issue franchises and allowing an entity to operate without a franchise and earn money at the same time,” he said during a House joint panel hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise.

“This is considered ultra vires (acting outside the authority) on the part of the NTC. Kumikita sila (ABS-CBN) ng pera nang napakalaki pero wala silang prangkisa. At ito ay tinolerate. (ABS-CBN is earning big money even though they have no franchise, and this is being tolerated by NTC). They (NTC) have committed an ultra vires act, we have a right case for the Ombudsman,” Remulla added.

NTC Commissioner Cordoba, during the hearing, said that Channel 43 and TV plus are included in the CDO issued against ABS-CBN, and they could issue another CDO against the said channels.

Cordoba said the NTC had to wait for the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General before it could hand down its decision on whether it would issue another CDO or not.

He added that when ABS-CBN continued its TV plus operations, the media network violated the cease and desist order issued against them.

However, ABS-CBN’s president and chief executive officer Carlo Katigbak argued that the CDO originally issued by the NTC does not cover Channel 43.

“The reason we continue to see our channels on TVPlus is we have a block time arrangement with AMCARA (Broadcasting Network),” Katigbak explained, adding that AMCARA is not owned by ABS-CBN.

For his part, Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta wants Cordoba to resign from his post for allowing ABS-CBN to continue to air shows via TV plus.

“Commissioner Cordoba should resign already because he is not doing his job,” he said during the same hearing.

“Ako ang gusto ko mangyari, magresign na lang kayo kasi pinagtatakpan ninyo. Sa kabila ng lahat, pinatitiyagaan namin himayin kung bibigyan pa sila ng prangkisa pero ngayon nakabuyangyang lahat ng mga telebisyon na nakakapag broadcast pa rin sila,” Marcoleta added, addressing Cordoba.

(What I want is that you should resign because it seems like you’re concealing something. Despite our efforts to determine whether ABS-CBN deserves a franchise, we learned that they can still broadcast shows even without a franchise.)

EDV