- Speaker Cayetano admits personal grievances against ABS-CBN.
- ABS-CBN franchise is set to expire next year.
Taguig Congressman and House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has revealed the reason for his personal reservation against ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal.
According to him, the media giant played favorites during the 2016 election campaign.
Without giving names, Cayetano said ABS-CBN has given extended airtime to some candidates as opposed to others in one of the Vice Presidential forums they organized.
“Apat kaming naimbitahan na vice presidential candidate sa DZMM.Yung isa nilabas sa 6:30 p.m. news, sa Bandila, sa Umagang Kay Ganda at lunch time. Yung dalawa sa amin, DZMM and then, Bandila (lang),” he said.
“Yung isa sa amin sa DZMM (lang), hindi lumabas sa iba. So may mga katanungan kami or issue,” Cayetano added.
Among those invited during the DZMM forum were Cayetano, incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and former Senator and now Sorsogon Gov. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero.
Meanwhile, during an interview with Karen Davila on ANC, Cayetano shared his personal grudge against the network for allegedly meddling in the 2016 elections.
“I feel that there’s certain instances in history and in the 2016 election na naki-alam unjustly some sectors or some leaders of ABS, so how do you sort it out?” said Cayetano.
“People like me, ako may angal din ako. I’ll tell you this is my personal ha? On one hand I feel that we have to protect the freedom of press and freedom of expression,” he added.
Cayetano in 2016 filed a TRO against ABS-CBN to prohibit the network from airing the controversial ad against then-candidate Rodrigo Duterte paid by Sen. Antonio Trillanes.
However, the Speaker maintained that Congress will still be fair enough in tackling the ABS-CBN franchise renewal despite his and the President’s personal opposition to it.
ABS-CBN franchise is due to expire in March 2020. It has yet to be discussed at the Committee on Legislative Franchises after being sidelined since 2016.
