SMNI’s 30-day suspension is ‘patently unconstitutional’ – Panelo

SMNI’s 30-day suspension by the National Telecommunications Commission is “patently unconstitutional,” according to lawyer Salvador Panelo. Photo of SMNI logo from INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The 30-day suspension of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) is “patently unconstitutional,” a former spokesperson for ex-president Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday.

Lawyer Salvador Panelo asserted that the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) sanction against SMNI was without due process.

“The order of the NTC suspending the operations of SMNI for 30 days pending investigation by it for certain alleged violations of its franchise is patently unconstitutional for having been issued without due process being given to SMNI,” he said in a statement.

Panelo, who also served as Duterte’s chief legal counsel, likewise claimed that the suspension was a “brazen assault” on press freedom as it would create a “chilling effect” on other broadcasting networks.

READ: SMNI programs’ suspension not curtailing free speech – De Lima

He argued that SMNI’s suspension violates the rights of program hosts and anchors to freely express themselves on their chosen platform and restricts the public’s right to information through their preferred communication network.

Panelo even accused the NTC of violating its own implementing rules and regulations when it issued the halt order without SMNI causing “serious and irreparable damage or inconvenience to the public and private interests.”

“It is a blatant abuse of regulatory power that is outrageously abhorrent and constitutionally obnoxious and impermissible,” he said.

On December 21, the NTC issued a directive stopping the operations of SMNI for 30 days and a show cause order against Swara Sug Media Corporation – the business name of SMNI.

The halt order was in response to a call from the House of Representatives for the NTC to intervene and suspend SMNI’s operations over alleged violations of its franchise terms and conditions.

READ: 2 SMNI shows suspended; Duterte’s ‘Gikan’ included

House Resolution No. 1499 asserted that SMNI violated the terms and conditions of its franchise under Republic Act No. 11422.

The resolution stemmed from claims made by Jeffrey Celiz, one of the hosts of SMNI’s “Laban Kasama ng Bayan,” that Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s travel expenses reached P1.8 billion. But this information was late proven wrong by House officials, who explained that the entire chamber only spent P39.60 million for travels between January and October 2023.