In an ironic turn of events, one of the 70 solons who voted against ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal sought help from the network to voice out concerns amidst the abrupt removal of house committee chairpersons from Congress.
Through Twitter, netizens tried to guess who amongst the removed officials might be asking help from the network.
The representative in question is Valenzuela 2nd District Representative Eric Martinez. He is the former Chairperson for the House Committee of Youth and Sports Development. Perceived as an ally of Speaker-in-waiting Lord Allan Velasco, Martinez got stripped of his post alongside Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan and Rep. Sharon Garin.
So, Mr Eric Martinez of 2nd District of Valenzuela, who voted to deny ABS-CBN its franchise, asks ABS-CBN thru his PR, to air his statement after he was kicked out as chair of a congressional committee. Ang kapal, di ba?! https://t.co/nJF0wUqNRx
— Jerry B. Grácio (@JerryGracio) October 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/MarieFr88385531/status/1314032967316983810?fbclid=IwAR2W_i4y3iwhYfAx5heoPuVxWrOMkptqnoI8cQrxh0KtEhl_L87nG5wAqLA
https://twitter.com/JosephYosef15/status/1313874444620713997?fbclid=IwAR1oiZPXTXGulPXQpSyHDxaIOUjcP-d0WBaZtCRv-SXDMZWEwTg-DoDQSiE
https://twitter.com/JosephYosef15/status/1313872616260730885
Sige paakyatin mo siya sa tower ng ABS-CBN doon mo siya interbyuhin from the booth.
Most likely si Eric Martinez? Siya ang natanggalan ng chairmanship na part ng 70 congressmen? The other one is Sharon Garin kaya lang "his" ang clue…(Roy A. Endriga)
Me: Digital na ang karma pic.twitter.com/SSmNujSmxU
— Beautiful Soul (@BeauSoul) October 8, 2020
Naku, mukhang di nag-iisip si Eric Martinez. Ang laman ng FB post niya, panay basketball at basketball court.
— Jerry B. Grácio (@JerryGracio) October 8, 2020
According to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, he removed the three representatives from their positions due to allegedly politicking against him in Congress and being unable to work with the available budget for their respective committees.
In his interview with ANC 24/7, Martinez noted that he didn’t receive a notice before his removal from his post.
“This is something that you don’t expect to happen. You get to be removed without getting informed of things to come. Having been the chairman of the committee on Youth and Sports Development. Having worked hard, and put all of the legislative agendas put on by the administration,” said Rep. Martinez.
He also narrated how he received the information of his removal from the post.
“Why? That’s all I could ask myself, why? I really don’t what happened yesterday. It hit me. Just a phone call. I’m on my way home trying to catch up with the session via zoom. Then, somebody called me ‘Eric you’re out!’ I have to confirm. No one talked to me from the higher-ups. No communication,” Martinez narrated.
