NTC shuts down Albay radio station

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered the closure of a local radio station for operating despite an expired permit, a move that its owner and manager claimed to be politically motivated.

The NTC regional office in Bicol served on Monday morning a cease-and-desist order stopping the operation of Zagitsit News FM because of an expired temporary permit, absence of a studio to transmitter link radio station license, and violation of the terms and conditions of its provisional authority.

The order complied with a directive by the House committee on legislative franchises asking the NTC to explain why it had allowed Zagitsit to use one of the assigned frequencies of Hypersonic Broadcasting Center Inc. (HBC), the franchise permit holder.

The station was given 15 days until Nov. 19 to file a motion for reconsideration.

At a press conference also on Monday, Hermogenes Alegre Jr., Zagitsit station manager and owner, said he was surprised by the closure order.

‘Unfair’

He said the NTC, for the past six years, had been regularly inspecting the station to check on compliance with government requirements.

“We are committed to abide with the law and find legal remedies to address the issue. What is disturbing is [that] politics is all behind this,” said Alegre, a longtime broadcaster and reporter of radio station dzRH.

He described the NTC’s move as “unfair.”

“Why single us out? There is also a radio station owned by a politician which is operating without a permit,” he said, although he did not name this station .Alegre, a close ally of Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, is running for provincial board member in the second district of Albay.

He said that with the closure, 25 station workers would lose their jobs. The station, he said, is spending around P200,000 monthly for the salaries and allowances of these employees.

Beneficiaries of Zagitsit’s public affairs program would also be deprived of assistance, he said.

In a telephone interview, Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin, a member of the House committee on legislative franchises, said it was the job of the committee to grant or deny franchises sought by media networks.

“So it is inherent to the committee to check and ask the NTC whether those given franchises are complying with the requirements,” said Garbin, noting that Zagitsit had been operating without a franchise.

He said the franchise given to HBC was an exclusive right that could not be sold.

Garbin is running for mayor of Legazpi against Geraldine Rosal, wife of the incumbent mayor.Mayor Rosal, who is on his last term, is challenging the reelection bid of Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara.

—MAR S. ARGUELLES