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“It is high time that Congress finally hear and approve the franchise of ABS-CBN to undo the damage and attack on press freedom, freedom of expression and freedom of information perpetrated by Malacañang.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The Makabayan bloc called on Congress to act swiftly on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation whose franchise expired on May 4.

“It is high time that Congress finally hear and approve the franchise of ABS-CBN to undo the damage and attack on press freedom, freedom of expression and freedom of information perpetrated by Malacañang,” the Makabayan bloc said in a statement.

The Makabayan bloc is composed of Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers Party, Gabriela Women’s Party and Kabataan Partylist.

As the House of Representatives (HOR) resumed its session on Tuesday, May 5, Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas asked the Committee on Legislative Franchise on the status of the deliberations on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal.

“Since we are in session, why not discuss and swiftly renew the franchise of ABS-CBN? The ball has been always in our court. Unfortunately, the House dribbled the time away until we reached this kind of exigencies & brazen clampdown on the freedom of the press,” Brosas said.

Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said that it is the HOR’s function to revoke or to award franchises, therefore, it should not allow the Executive to control the functions of the Legislative branch of the government. She urged the House leadership to immediately approve the pending ABS-CBN franchise renewal bills.

The Makabayan said the closure of ABS-CBN shows that “President Duterte is determined to use the current crisis brought about by the pandemic to further advance his drive for tyrannical rule.”

“Aside from this blatant attack on press freedom on a scale not seen since the Marcos dictatorship, Duterte has continued to float the possibility of declaring martial law, even as extrajudicial killings, arrests on trumped up charges, villification, and harassment of activists and critics of the administration continue unabated,” the Makabayan said.

According to report, there are at least 50 national and local broadcast franchises that were signed into law by President Duterte during the 17th Congress. While there are pending bills for the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, the House Committee on legislative franchises only held one hearing and failed to pass it. The Senate, meanwhile, adopted a resolution in March this year urging the National Telecommunications Commission to grant ABS-CBN provisional permit to continue operations.

Meanwhile, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said that the government should focus its efforts on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) instead of shutting down one of the largest broadcast networks in the Philippines.

“Only 10 days before the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine, let’s focus on the strengthening of the health system, aid to those in need and prepare for the restart of the economy,” said Elago.

The legislators called on Filipinos to stand for press freedom and make their voices heard by joining online and offline protests. “Write to NTC [National Telecommunications Commission], congressmen, senators and to President Duterte to state your opposition to ABS-CBN shutdown.”

“Until ABS-CBN is back on air and their franchise approved, these activities should not stop. We are not just fighting for a station, we are fighting for freedom against tyranny,” the Makabayan bloc said.

The NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN, May 5. The network went off the air last night but its operations continue via its online platforms.

The post Makabayan urges Congress to renew ABS-CBN franchise appeared first on Bulatlat.

“ABS-CBN’s closure extinguishes the brightest light in our information firmament and leaves smaller ones in darkness and peril.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Several universities issued statements condemning the shutdown of media giant ABS-CBN.

Ateneo de Manila University President Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ said, “We, the Ateneo de Manila University, see in the forced shut down of ABS-CBN, shades of martial law almost 50 years ago, when the airwaves went silent as the dictatorship sought to quell the free exchange of news, information and commentary.”

Yesterday, May 5, viewers witnessed ABS-CBN primetime news TV Patrol signing off. Many netizens pointed out it is reminiscent of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declaring martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.

Villarin said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) clearly took its cue from President Rodrigo Duterte who publicly threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.

In a memorandum to the university community, Villarin said that while it is true that ABS-CBN is not the only broadcast network in the Philippines, it is the largest and has the widest reach in the country.

“We urge our lawmakers to act post-haste to approve the ABS-CBN franchise and restore its broadcast.”

Read the memo to the ADMU community from Fr Jose Ramon Villarin SJ, University President, on the shutdown of ABS-CBN. https://t.co/fJPnL2FvOC pic.twitter.com/tdArGm1T9f

— Ateneo de Manila (@ateneodemanilau) May 5, 2020

“ABS-CBN’s closure extinguishes the brightest light in our information firmament and leaves smaller ones in darkness and peril,” Villarin pointed out.

In the same vein, educators of journalism at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), declared, “Shutting down media is the work of dictators.”

UST journalism professors added “there is no denying that the Duterte regime will stop at nothing – even amid the a national emergency and a crippling lockdown – to crush dissent and stifle a free and independent media.”

Statement of journalism educators from UST on the closure of ABS-CBN pic.twitter.com/Uc9zdOGciu

— Felipe Salvosa II? (@felipesalvosa) May 5, 2020

Insidious

UST educators branded the NTC’s cease and desist order as “an insidious strategy … at a time when its vast news-gathering network is needed to inform citizens on the COVID-19 outbreak and check on the government’s exercise of emergency powers and massive warchest on response to the pandemic, and as its viewers, stakeholders and supporters are locked down and unable to protest.”

The Polytechnic University of the Philippines-College of Communication also pointed out that amid the global pandemic, “closing an institution that provides important information to the nation is not part of the solution.”

In a statement, University of the Philippines – College of Mass Communication said the Duterte administration demonstrates the lengths it will go to silence critical media voices.

“During this enhanced community quarantine, we have witnessed the brave coverage of the journalists-frontlliners from ABS-CBN in covering the pandemic. As we continue to battle this health crisis, we need a free press to serve as a faithful chronicler of events, a platform for the diversity of voices to be heard, and, more importantly, the public’s watchdog of inept, abusive and corrupt governance,” UP-CMC said.

De La Salle University, meanwhile, showed support by lighting its Manila campus’ facade with red, green and blue, which are the signature colors of ABS-CBN.

“In solidarity with ABS-CBN, its employees, and the millions of Filipinos who depend on the broadcast network for news and information, De La Salle University lights up the iconic St. La Salle Hall in the colors of the company to appeal to the National Telecommunications Commission to grant provisional authority for the continued operation of the network,” it said.

The ABS-CBN went off the air last night, May 5. The corporation’s president and chief executive officer, Carlo Katigbak said that they will comply with the NTC order but asserted that the corporation did not break any law and has done their best to fulfill the requirements for the franchise renewal.

Villarin and UST professors urged Congress to fast track the renewal of ABS-CBN franchise.

UST journalism educators maintained that the process of granting broadcast franchises should be depoliticized and delegated to an independent regulatory agency.

They called on “all the freedom-loving public to speak out and resist all attacks on the media and media workers, and hold the malevolent forces behind this treachery to account.”

The post With ABS-CBN shutdown, academe sees ‘shades of martial law’ appeared first on Bulatlat.

By DEE AYROSO

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“The NTC’s Order has preempted Congressional action in this area exclusively reserved to it by the Constitution and is an exercise of discretion that gravely upsets the constitutional architecture and design.”

By EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Two groups of human rights lawyers raised constitutional issues over the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) cease and desist order against ABS-CBN.

In a statement, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) said the order “takes on grave constitutional significance because the pending bills in Congress may still be acted upon by Congress and the franchise may still be granted.”

“The power to grant, modify, or revoke franchises is a power reposed by the Constitution solely on Congress. The NTC’s Order has preempted Congressional action in this area exclusively reserved to it by the Constitution and is an exercise of discretion that gravely upsets the constitutional architecture and design,” FLAG said.

In a similar vein, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) branded the NTC’s cease and desist order as duplicitous, saying that the NTC is aware of the request of the House of Representatives for the NTC to extend the network’s franchise until the House has finished its own deliberations and the legal opinion of the Justice department that the NTC has the authority to do so.

“The Constitution demands that all gaps, doubts, or gray areas in the law that are tangential to basic freedoms must be resolved in favor of these fundamental rights,” the NUPL said. “For these freedoms are at the core of what makes us human — living not to simply exist and succumb to the grim realities of society imposed by an insensitive social order, but to also interrogate and shape it into something that better reflects our collective hopes and aspirations.”

Still, FLAG argued that the NTC is not the only one to blame for the media network’s shutdown but also the legislators who refused to hear the applications for franchise renewal, the Solicitor General who filed a quo warranto against the ABS-CBN and the DOJ who did not clarify what should be done.

Assault on press freedom

Both the NUPL and FLAG assailed the assault on press freedom.

“The NTC order is a deplorable assault on free press that further reveals that this administration is more interested in restricting basic freedoms than in containing a pandemic,” the NUPL said. “By resorting once again to outright suppression, this administration reveals that COVID-19 is not the only disease that besets us that spurs clamors for a cure,” the NUPL further said.

FLAG also said the cease and desist order “reflects a distorted sense of priorities that is inimical to the public interest.”

“The Order directly undermines the freedom of the press by singling out one network that had been publicly identified as having incurred the ire of the president…” FLAG said.

The post In shutting down ABS-CBN, lawyers say NTC bypassed Congress appeared first on Bulatlat.