IN A bid to show their support and solidarity for the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Cagayan de Oro Chapter will be holding a candle-lighting activity on Friday, February 28.
The activity will be held at the ABS-CBN office in Macapagal Drive, Cagayan de Oro City, where media organizations, including all groups and individuals who value press freedom and democracy, are encouraged to participate in the activity by wearing black or any ABS-CBN color to show their stand against the continued “harassment” of ABS-CBN network.
“The recent Quo Warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General is a blatant and arrogant show of abuse of power and authority,” Pamela Jay Orias, the NUJP-Cagayan de Oro Chapter president, said.
“We call on to the public to be more discerning: a controlled press is not democracy,” she added.
On February 26, President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the apology issued by the ABS-CBN president and chief executive officer Carlo Katigbak.
However, the president said he could not do anything to stop the quo warranto petition against the television network.
Duterte said his hands are tied with regards to the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General.
The petition, which seeks to revoke the legislative franchise of ABS-CBN, is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court en banc on March 10, 2020.