Actor Edward Barber took to Instagram to express his thoughts after receiving the sad news that ABS-CBN’s bid for a franchise renewal was rejected.
Some politicians voted to deny an extension of the ABS-CBN franchise on Friday, July 10, taking the network’s main television channels off the air and putting thousands of jobs at risk.
The former Pinoy Big Brother housemate called out the network’s bashers who appeared to be happy over the situation.
“I’m seeing a lot of people laughing and happy about what happened to ABS-CBN. And at the end of the day, if you want to smile at the pain of others, God bless you. Go ahead.”
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Then he offered scenarios about what they would feel if a certain member of his family came home with the news that they were losing their jobs in the blink of an eye.
“But think of this. What if your mother had to come home and explain to you that she no longer had a job during a worldwide pandemic? What if your father, or sibling, or son, came home and said that he and 11,000 other people lost their jobs in the blink of an eye.”
“You’re laughing because you’re not affected. You’re rejoicing because it’s not you. You’re celebrating because you might think that finally ABS-CBN has been brought to the ground.”
Edward then stressed that if the same thing happens with the network’s bashers, the 11,000 workers who were displaced won’t do the same thing but rather help them, since its ABS-CBN’s job to serve the Filipino people.
“But the family that is ABS-CBN, the 11,000 of us… we will never laugh at the suffering of others. We stay as one family, regardless of what happens. We won’t be silent. We will rise again. And the next time something happens to you, the person laughing at us now… don’t worry, we will try to help you. Because we will forever be – In the service of the Filipino.”
Edward Barber is an actor, host, and video jockey on MYX Philippines. He came to prominence in 2016, after joining the reality TV series, Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7, where he was fourth place.
He is also known for his love team with Pinoy Big Brother Big Winner, Maymay Entrata, popularly known as “Mayward,” where they made their debut film, Loving in Tandem, which was released nationwide on September 13, 2017. Shortly after that, he got a cameo role in the box office hit movie Seven Sundays.
In a vote of 70 against 11, ABS-CBN failed to win the votes of the members of the Legislative Franchise Committee, which effectively shut down the country’s largest media network and fueled the perception that the authorities are cracking down on freedom of the press.
A simple vote of 44 was required to pass a resolution rejecting the company’s franchise, but with an overwhelming majority of 70 lawmakers voted to deny the network a new franchise and its 11,000 workers their jobs in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
