The ill-fated franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation was dead on arrival at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
It was the leadership of the House of Representatives which deprived ABS-CBN of its authority to operate by inordinately stalling the network’s franchise renewal and allowing it to expire.
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.
It was President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated pronouncements that he is opposed to the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise and he is not going to sign a bill granting any renewal which inveigled the leadership of the House of Representatives to unduly temporize on the renewal of the franchise and allowed the same to expire.
The National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) must not be used as the scapegoat for the patent failure of the leadership of the House of Representatives to resolutely push for the seasonable renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.
There is no other solution to the dilemma of ABS-CBN than the immediate renewal of its franchise now that the Congress is in session.
I have repeatedly underscored that there is no other solution to the dilemma of ABS-CBN than the seasonable extension of its legislative franchise prior to its expiration.
The solution proffered by the House leadership on the grant of a provisional authority to the network giant by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is contrary to law and jurisprudence, as I have previously explained.
