President Rodrigo Duterte said that he plans to give the frequency of ABS-CBN to a “Filipino who will do good and pay”.
The president talked about ABS-CBN’s alleged violations and failed franchise renewal in his State of the Nation Address on Monday.
“I will give it to a Filipino na gustong magawa ng tamang ano and pay, because sa ABS-CBN, even their equipment were imported tax-free kaya talaga ako hindi magpapayag,” Duterte stated.
Duterte also added that the media giant “still owe government billions.”
Duterte said, “Wala akong problema sa ABS-CBN. They got my money, I’m not… They wanted to return it when the case blew up at they printed all the garbage including my daughter as a drug trafficker. Nilamon ko na lang lahat ‘yun because I never wanted to be — to appear vindictive.”
He also tackled the issue of the authenticity of the land title of ABS-CBN Corporation. The network previously denied the allegations about this.
Duterte said, “In the contract diyan sa nakalagay doon four hectares. So ang binabayaran nila four hectares sa property taxes. Supposed they are occupying 40 hectares, that complex there. Pero ginamit nila na papel ‘yung four hectares. Iyon lang ang binabayaran nila. Kung hindi ba naman… Kaya ko sila inaway.”
In May 2020, the network signed off following the expiry of its franchise that Congress did not renew.
Several government agencies and broadcast organizations cleared the issues raised against the Kapamilya network in the previous hearings.
ABS-CBN Corporation also proved that they have no pending tax liability with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
In their statement, ABS-CBN belied accusations of tax liability with the BIR saying they were already issued a tax clearance certificate for the year 2019.
ABS-CBN also added that that company has already paid a total of P70.5 billion in taxes in the past 17 years, making them one of the biggest taxpayers in the country.
Even if ABS-CBN was handed a new franchise, Duterte said that he would not allow the National Telecommunications Commission to grant it a license to operate in February.
