The leadership of the House of Representatives can redeem itself of its culpability in the ABS-CBN franchise fiasco by immediately fast-tracking the renewal of the giant network’s franchise.

A swift congressional action extending ABS-CBN’s franchise for another 25 years will render moot and academic the network’s petition before the Supreme Court to revoke the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on May 5, 2020 which ABS-CBN complied with on the same day.

The renewal of the franchise will also foreclose the need for the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against NTC’s CDO so that the network can resume operations even as such franchise renewal will quash the controversial CDO.

It is utterly pretentious for Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to say that the passage of the franchise renewal will now be prioritized in order to “fix the mess” which others made.

Cayetano himself made the mess by blindly kowtowing to President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated personal opposition to the renewal which unduly stalled the approval of the extension.

Moreover, Cayetano cited his own personal grievances against ABS-CBN to justify his temporizing on the consideration of the 12 pending bills for renewal.

Cayetano must not wash his hands and absolve himself of blame at the expense of others.

Admitting one’s fault is an earmark of true leadership.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN