In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), Pres. Duterte still is not over with ABS-CBN as he released yet another tirade against the embattled Network.
On Monday, July 26, Duterte claimed that he had no problems with ABS-CBN after they “took” his money for his un-aired political campaign advertisement during the 2016 national election.
He then stated that the Network wanted to return his money but released “garbage” news against him before offering such a deal, including an accusation that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, was a drug trafficker.
“Wala akong problema sa ABS-CBN. They got my money. They wanted to return it when the case blew it, but they printed all the garbage, including my daughter as a drug trafficker.”
Pres. Duterte then claimed that he was “silent” with what ABS-CBN had done to him and his daughter because he did not want to “appear vindictive”.
“Nilamon ko na lang lahat nang ‘yon. Because I never wanted to appear vindictive.”
But he is certain that ABS-CBN owes the government of billions in taxes, calling the TV station “cheater”.
“They are cheating [the] government by the billions in taxes. And they still want that frequency because ‘yan ang pinag-aawayan,” claimed Duterte.
“I will give it to a Filipino na gustong gumawa ng tama and pay,” he added.
Contrary to Duterte’s claims, ABS-CBN has no articles about the presidential daughter being accused of drug trafficking.
In his claim about ABS-CBN “owing” the government billions in taxes, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on July 2020 has cleared the media giant of any alleged tax violation.
BIR Assistant Commissioner Manuel Mapoy said during one of the public hearings for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal bid that the broadcasting company has paid over P15.3 billion in taxes from 2016 to 2019.
Mapoy then testified that the Kapamilya Network has no outstanding delinquent account as it was able to pay deficiency taxes.
“ABS-CBN Corporation ay (is) regularly paying taxes for the past years. Na-check naman po na ‘yung dapat nilang i-withhold at na-remit naman nila sa gobyerno,” cleared Mapoy.
Even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) belied the claims, stating that the Network was compliant with regulations.
Over the past years, Duterte made it clear that he has a personal vendetta against the media giant, as he ensured, time and time again, its closure during his term.
ABS-CBN went dark on May 2020 after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) released a cease and desist order against the network.
On July 10, 2020, it failed to return on air after the Legislative Franchises rejected its renewal application with a vote of 70-11.
