On Thursday, January 27, presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was firm that the only way for ABS-CBN to have its franchise back is to settle the issues with Congress.
The former senator pointed out during an interview with radio DWIZ 882 that the “violations” of the Lopez-owned Network prompted Congress to reject its franchise application.
“Yung franchise ng ABS, nakita ko, ang naging proseso dun sa House of Representatives, ang naging problema kung bakit hindi tinuloy ang extension ng prangkisa ay dahil may mga nakitang problema—violation sa tax codes sa iba’t ibang bagay,” he said.
The only course that the Kapamilya network, according to Marcos, is to resolve the infractions and have them investigated by the proper committee.
“Kapag naayos nila yan at na-areglo nila, ang mga nakita nung doon sa hearing ng ABS, eh kung maayos nila yan, eh di ibalik natin yung application nila sa Committee on Franchises dun sa House of Representatives. Pag-aralan ulit nila.”
The presidential aspirant then took the opportunity to share that ABS-CBN has been a critic of his family but said he will not take it against the Network.
“ABS-CBN has been a very fervid critic of me, my family, all lahat sa mga panig ng mga Marcos.
“So pero hindi yan ang pinag-uusapan… Ang pinag-uusapan ay yun ngang mga violation na nakita. Kapag naayos yan, bakit naman hindi maibalik ang prangkisa?” he noted.
The TV station has been firm that it never had tax deficiencies nor it was a foreign-owned company. It was also attested by government agencies Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Network was also free from any labor violations as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said that the Network was compliant with labor standards.
The House Committee on Legislative Franchises with 70-congressmen still] denied ABS-CBN renewal of its franchise even with no infractions.
