Malacañang now holds the National Telecommunications Commission fully responsible and accountable in making decisions whether ABS-CBN will continue or stop operating after its franchise has expired.
It was confirmed by the Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque that President Rodrigo Duterte will respect whatever decision NTC will make.
Roque said: “I don’t think NTC will let any institution influence its decision. The official position of the President is: since the matter is pending with the NTC, we will respect the decision of the NTC. Pero sa ngayon po antayin muna natin ang desisyon ng NTC.”
As a lawyer by profession, Roque insisted that NTC should be allowed to decide freely in regard to the franchise of the company. But on the contrary, the NTC is just an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology which is only responsible for the supervision, adjudication, and control over all telecommunications services throughout the country, which excludes the authority to decide for the broadcasting networks to operate or not due to pending franchise renewal in the Congress.
Since August 2019, there have been at least 11 bills that have been filed seeking for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal for another 25 years. Unfortunately, the panel only had the time to conduct the first hearing last March 10, 2020.
In addition to that, Solicitor General Jose Calida is determined to prevent the giant network from operating and warned the NTC officials to face graft charges if they will allow ABS-CBN to operate after its franchise has expired.
Calida said: “No less than the Constitution requires a prior franchise from Congress. Hence, when there is no renewal, the franchise expires by operation of law. The franchise ceases to exist and the entity can no longer continue its operations as a public utility. Risk subjecting themselves to prosecution under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”
