To foreclose all conflicting views as to whether or not ABS-CBN Corporation can continue operations after the expiration of its legislative franchise in May 2020, the House of Representatives must forthwith act expeditiously and decisively on the 11 pending bills seeking the renewal of the network’s franchise.
Since the prevailing rule is “no franchise, no operation”, inveigling ABS-CBN to continue operation with an expired franchise is pushing it to a legal limbo fraught with possible lawsuits as such continued operation is against jurisprudence and the law under Section 16 of RA 7925 or the “Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines” which provides that:
“Section 16. Franchise. - No person shall commence or conduct the business of being a public telecommunications entity without first obtaining a franchise.”
Many lawmakers have previously articulated what former Chief Justice Reynato Puno recently said that ABS-CBN cannot operate without a renewed franchise.
The House leadership cannot claim that it is overwhelmed or besieged by pending priority bills because the Senate and the House leaderships after the SONA of the President during the opening of the 18th Congress have prioritized only four (4) bills, namely:
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The fifth tranche of the salary standardization law which is now R.A. 11466;
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Postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to December 5, 2022, which has been enacted into law as R.A. 11462;
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Creation of a department for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) which is pending sponsorship and the interpellations are about to be terminated; and
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Affording free legal services to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines where similar bills are pending before the committee on national defense and the committee on justice.
No other bills have been officially prioritized pending the convening of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), the meeting of which has long been overdue.
Why schedule the hearings on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN in May or after the President’s SONA in July 2020 or close to the adjournment sine die of the 18th Congress when the renewal can be deliberated and approved within the next six (6) session days before the Congress adjourns from March 14 to May 3 for the Lenten break?
Since the House is not preoccupied with major measures, its plenary sessions are currently devoted to privilege speeches and approval of local and private bills and some general bills many of which have little national consequence.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN