Angara says OSG warning may have caused turnaround in NTC’s order on ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines — Not only did Solicitor General Jose Calida’s warning to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) elicit a “negative effect” on its decision against granting provisional authority to ABS-CBN; it was also “unnecessary.”

This was the position of Senator Sonny Angara when asked for his opinion about the NTC’s cease and desist order and the role that Calida played prior to the issuance of that order.

“Mukhang nagka-negative effect ‘yun (Calida’s warning), because before we adjourned last March 11, we had that February committee hearing, and the House also had its March committee hearing where the NTC was very receptive of issuing a provisional authority. (It was) not only NTC, but the Senate was recommending it, the House was recommending it,” the senator said in an online press briefing on Wednesday.

Angara further pointed out that Calida’s “warning” to the NTC a day before the network’s 25-year franchise expired on May 4 is “unnecessary,” considering that even Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra already said that there is no legal obstacle in granting the provisional authority to the network so it can operate pending its franchise renewal in Congress.

He added that the granting of provisional authority has also been the practice in the past.

“The NTC agreed. But in the interim, may nangyari eh, may pinakinggan ang NTC it seems and parang nagturn around sila (something happened, they listened to someone else and it seems they have turned around in their decision). We don’t know. Sila lang siguro ang makakasagot nyan but definitely may epekto ‘yun (Only them can answer it but definitely it affected their decision),” Angara said.

The senator, however, said that while he respects the Office of the Solicitor General and that Calida is a “very capable lawyer,” it would have been better if the chief state lawyer had refrained from giving its opinion to the NTC, being a departure from “existing practice.”

“He (Calida) is telling NTC, in effect, he is directing NTC to depart from legislative tradition and from practice. Sana hindi na lang (I hope he did not do that). That was unnecessary I think,” said the senator, whose wife was also an executive of the network.

Angara’s comment came after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque came to the defense of Calida, saying his warning to the NTC shouldn’t be construed as “influencing” the regulatory body in its decision to grant provisional authority to the network.

On the other hand, the lawmaker also noted that the entertainment value of ABS-CBN shows benefitted the mental health of the public especially amid the health crisis, and eased their boredom during the community quarantine, when Filipinos are restricted from going out of their homes.

The NTC on Tuesday ordered ABS-CBN to “cease and desist” from broadcasting on television and radio, a day after its 25-year operating franchise expired. The network stopped its broadcast operations Tuesday night in compliance with the order.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly threatened to block the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, saying the network did not providing him the airtime he had pair for during the campaign period for the May 2016 presidential elections.

Despite this, Roque said Duterte remains “neutral” on the issue, and also urged members of Congress to vote on the franchise renewal “as conscience dictates.”

EDV