SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday, July 27, 2020, clarified that he was defending freedom of the press when he defended ABS-CBN during its franchise bid in Congress.

The statement was issued after President Rodrigo Duterte took a swipe at the senator in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Duterte accused Drilon of being a staunch defender of the media giant, who earlier filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 which asked the Senate to allow ABS-CBN to operate “under the terms of its existing franchise” back when the network's franchise bid was still being tackled in the House commitee on legislative franchises.

According to Drilon, he was not defending the Lopezes, but the freedom of the media and the 11,000 workers who will be laid off due to the network’s closure.

“I was defending freedom of the press, not the Lopezes. The closure of the ABS-CBN sent a chilling effect,” he said in a statement.

“As I said before, for democracy to thrive, we need free press and to allow journalists to exercise complete freedom to do their mandate of reporting facts,” he added.

The senator said that access to information is needed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I aired my support for the renewal of franchise of ABS-CBN because undeniably the network complements other stations in providing timely and accurate reportage even in the farthest locality unreachable to others, even to the government,” Drilon said.

“I was defending the 11,000 people and their families who would lose jobs amid the pandemic, not the Lopezes,” he said.

ABS-CBN shut down last May 5 after a cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The House committee on legislative franchises also junked its franchise bid last July 10. (SunStar Philippines)