Davao City Mayor and Vice Presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio changed her tone about the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue.
In her latest statement to Rappler during the Vice Mayor’s League of the Philippines conference on March 1, Duterte-Carpio said it will be up to Congress which is the Senate and the House of Representatives to decide the matter.
“As Vice President wala po ang power dyan of granting franchises. So nasa Congress po yan, nasa House of Representatives at sa Senate. So nasa Congress po yan, kung ano po ang decision ng Congress yan po ang masusunod.”
Her latest statement was a complete turnaround from her previous statement and now fully supports the franchise renewal of the Kapamilya network.
In her statement 2 years ago, the Davao City Mayor said she fully supports the franchise renewal because ABS-CBN has been supportive also to Davao City and the rest of the country.
“Davao City fully supports ABS-CBN sa kanilang pagpapa-renew ng kanilang franchise. Of course malaki din ang suporta ng ABS-CBN sa Davao City at sa buong bansa.”
Duterte-Carpio’s previous statement however is a contradiction to his father President Rodrigo Duterte’s public stance.
Since the start of his presidency, the senior Duterte was vocal in his opposition to the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise.
The President accused ABS-CBN of being biased in reporting and swindling his campaign ads during the 2016 presidential elections.
And although the Palace kept on saying that the President will never interfere in the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN because that is the sole responsibility of the Congress in July 2022, the Duterte-backed and Cayetano-led House of Representatives voted to kill the ABS-CBN franchise in a vote of 70-11.
Duterte in one of his speeches after the franchise rejection even proudly said that he was able to dismantle the oligarch ABS-CBN without imposing martial law.
