Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza has pinned the blame on Speaker Alan Cayetano for ABS-CBN’s franchise mess.
In an interview with ANC, Atienza said sorry on behalf of the Congress for the unfortunate closure of the network. He said the Congress who has the prime duty of granting or denying franchise applications has failed on its job thus the fate of ABS-CBN.
But Atienza also stressed that it was in the hands of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.
“Kasalanan namin ito, kasalanan ng Kongreso ito. But more important, I’d like to say squarely, kasalanan ni Speaker Cayetano ito. Pagkukulang niya ito sa bayan,” Atienza said.
“He will have a lot to explain one day. It may not be today, but later on this issue will hound him because he is the one who did not do his job.
“Speaker Cayetano was doing something else. Para siyang si Nero. While Rome was burning, he was playing music in his chamber. Kaya hindi maganda ang ibubunga nito. Congress has failed the Filipino people and we should answer for it,” Atienza added
Following Atienza’s line of reasoning, Solicitor General Jose Calida also passed the blame to Congress.
In a statement a day after NTC issued the cease and desist order, Calida said NTC just followed the law when it issued the order against ABS-CBN. He then questioned Congress why since 2016 it hasn’t acted on the franchise bills under it
“Why blame NTC when they are only following the law. Without a valid and subsisting franchise from Congress, the NTC cannot allow any broadcasting entity from operating in the country,” Calida said.
“The bill renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise has been pending in Congress since 2016. The question we should be asking is, why hasn’t Congress acted on it? Who is at fault here?” he added.
ABS-CBN’s franchise has been stalled in Congress since 2016.
There are already 11 bills filed seeking to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise but the Committee on Legislative Franchise has sat on all those bills without scheduling a hearing until March 2020, days before Congress’ adjournment for their Lenten break.
Speaker Cayetano on several occasions has issued conflicting statements that stalled the deliberations of the ABS-CBN franchise.
In November 2019, Cayetano aired his gripes against ABS-CBN saying they favored some candidates in the 2016 elections. Because of his personal objection, he deemed it necessary to buy more time so that all those who have grievances against the renewal would be given time.
“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.
In January 2020, Cayetano promised that they will already schedule a hearing for the ABS-CBN franchise. He also assured that there’ll be enough time to tackle the issue
“We have enough time. Yung budget na P4.1 trillion natapos natin ng isang buwan, yun pa kayang franchise na siguro sobrang… yung issues, two-three hearings, sobrang exhaustive na nun,” he said.
“I talked to Chairman Chicoy Alvarez and he’s recommending we start… there are about 40 to 50 franchise bills. So, first week of February daw he will start, and kung sino daw ang may kumpletong requirements, he will start the hearings,” he said.
However, in February, Cayetano backtracked saying the franchise renewal is not urgent because ABS-CBN’s franchise is until March 2022.
“Hindi [ito] ganoon ka-urgent. Bakit? Kasi hanggang March 2022, pwedeng mag-operate,” he added.
“There’s a consensus that while we’re discussing the issue, walang reason na isara [ang ABS-CBN],” said Cayetano.
Also in February, during an interview in Zambales, Cayetano gave another timeline for the deliberation on ABS-CBN franchise. He said, it could be May 2020 or after Duterte’s SONA.
“What is the best timing? First, lahat ng pro at anti makapagsalita. Pangalawa, lahat ng gustong magsalita, magbigay ng comment, pabor man o hindi, marinig natin. Third, hindi matapakan yung ibang priorities natin na mas urgent,” he said.
“There are two options. It’s that in May, depende kung anong matapos namin in the next three weeks. The longer option is right after SONA (State of the Nation Address),” he continued.
And just this May, Cayetano assured that there’s no move to shutdown ABS-CBN. Cayetano is very sure that ABS-CBN will continue operating because of NTC’s commitment during the congressional hearing that it will grant provisional authority to ABS-CBN based on the letter they sent to NTC.
Cayetano was even quoted in April that he will go to jail for ABS-CBN because he was signatory to the letter.
“Kung may makukulong sa ABS-CBN dahil nagbobroadcast sila habang naghihearing kami, sasamahan ko sila sa kulungan. Ikulong niyo na rin ako dahil ako nakapirma sa sulat e,” Cayetano said.
But after May 5 closure, Cayetano has yet to give a statement regarding NTC’s cease and desist order.
