- Vilma Santos hopes to start deliberation on ABS-CBN franchise renewal.
- ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to expire in March 2020.
Deputy Speaker and Batangas representative Vilma Santos-Recto is hoping to start the deliberation on the bill that seeks to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.
In a statement to Inquirer.net, the Star for All Seasons said she’s hoping for the congress to finally push for the franchise renewal bill of ABS-CBN which will expire in March 2020. The House of Representatives is currently in recess and will resume in November 2019.
“Considering that we are in recess, I hope that when we go back this November, this will be subject for deliberation by the committee,” said Santos-Recto.
“Just for the record, last 17th Congress, the same [was not] tackled by the committee,” she added.
The Batangas representative is one of the six members of the House of Representatives who filed the bill extending the Kapamilya network’s franchise for another 25 years.
Aside from her, the other congressmen and women who are pushing for ABS-CBN’s renewal are Pangasinan Rep. Rose Marie Arenas, Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, Nueva Ecija Rep. Micaela Violago, PBA Rep. Jericho Nograles, and Parañaque Rep. Joy Myra Tambunting.
The ABS-CBN franchise renewal bill has been stalled in Congress since 2016. Nueva Ecija Rep. Violago first filed it during the 17th congress but the House leadership failed to act on it due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s constant verbal tirade against the media giant.
Since the start of his presidency, Duterte has announced on several occasions that he will block the franchise renewal of the Kapamilya network because of alleged biased reporting and swindling of his political ads during the 2016 Presidential campaign.
At the start of the 18th congress last July 2019, Violago refiled her bill again which was then followed by the other congressmen who also pushed for the Kapamilya network’s franchise renewal.
