President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that he has no problem with ABS-CBN despite his numerous rants against the Network.
During his last State of the Nation Address on July 26, 2021, Pres. Duterte said he didn’t want to seem vindictive while falsely accusing the network.
“Wala akong problema sa ABS-CBN. They want to return my money when the case blew up, but they printed all garbage, including my daughter as a drug trafficker. Nilamon ko na lang lahat ‘yun, because I never wanted to appear vindictive.”
ABS-CBN reporter Mike Navallo posted a timeline listing all of the rants Pres. Duterte made against the network throughout his presidency.
According to the timeline Navallo posted, Pres. Duterte cursed at ABS-CBN on March 30, 2017, for ‘unfair reporting.’
On April 27, 2017, Pres. Duterte accused ABS-CBN of swindling because of his unaired political ads in 2016. At this time, He also vowed to block the network’s franchise renewal.
Then on May 19, 2017, Pres. Duterte cursed and criticized ABS-CBN over unaired political ads.
Then, he said he would not intervene in the network’s franchise renewal on August 3, 2018.
After that, Pres. Duterte threatened to block ABS-CBN’s franchise application on December 3, 2019. Then, on December 30, 2019, he said that it would be better for the owners of ABS-CBN to sell.
In February 2020, Pres. Duterte accepted ABS-CBN’s apology for not airing his political ads in 2016, adding that he would leave the fate of the network’s franchise to Congress.
On July 14, 2020, Pres. Duterte gave his speech in Jolo, Sulu, highlighting that he dismantled the oligarchy. According to Navallo’s post, Pres. Duterte was referring to ABS-CBN based on an audio recording he quoted in his post.
Then, on his SONA on July 27, 2020, he claimed he was a casualty of the Lopezes in the 2016 elections.
LIST: The many times Duterte ranted against ABS-CBN (not exclusive list) but look at the varying reasons he cited. From swindling over unaired ads to supposedly trying to dismantle oligarchy. Now he cites billions of unpaid taxes, refuted in Senate and House hearings.#SONA2021 pic.twitter.com/8FceVydyxq
— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) July 26, 2021
During the hearing for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, ABS-CBN President Carlo Katigbak publicly apologized for not airing Pres. Duterte’s political ads.
“We are sorry if we offended the President. That was not the intention of the network. We felt that we were /just abiding by regulations that surround the airing of political ads.”
