Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon filed a petition with the Supreme Court to prevent ABS-CBN from receiving a provisional permit when its existing franchise expires.
Gadon claimed he was doing it as a concerned Filipino citizen and taxpayer.
Gadon, who is facing four disbarment complaints, said that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has no right to issue a provisionary permit to ABS-CBN. He also accused House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Rep. Franz Alvarez of being ignorant of the law.
Gadon cited: “The application for Certificates of Public Convenience with the NTC comes after securing a franchise from Congress. The NTC cannot issue a CPC unless there is a valid franchise.
“It is only Congress, which can extend ABS-CBN’s franchise. This power cannot be passed on or delegated to an administrative agency, such as NTC, under the Executive branch. This is tantamount to extending the franchise of ABS-CBN, through an undue delegation of power.”
BREAKING: Lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon asks Supreme Court to stop implementation of House franchise committee’s letter directing NTC to issue provisional authority to allow ABS-CBN to continue operating beyond lapse of franchise in May. pic.twitter.com/TQbsmS05sO
— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) March 5, 2020
Though he admitted that he would not be greatly affected whether the giant network can still operate after its franchise expires, Gadon emphasized that he’s filing the petition out of public interest and to remind the Congress on the principle of separation of powers.
He continued: “For the sake of upholding the law, to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution, to remind Congress of the principle of separation of powers of the three branches of government, that no one shall encroach on the powers of another.”
Moreover, Gadon’s effort to prevent ABS-CBN from operating seems to be too late. Two former Supreme Court Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno confirmed that ABS-CBN can still continue even without its franchise renewal.
Cayetano confirmed that the House of Representatives just sent a letter to NTC last February 27, 2020, to provide a provisional authority to ABS-CBN until such time Congress has made the decision on its application.
