THE House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 13, approved on second reading an amended bill granting television network ABS-CBN Corporation a provisional franchise to construct, install, operate and maintain radio and television broadcasting stations until October 31, 2020.
The six-month franchise granted through House Bill 6732, as amended, will allow ABS-CBN to resume operations while Congress deliberates on bills seeking to grant the television network another 25-year franchise.
Once approved on third and final reading, it will be forwarded to the Senate. If approved by the Senate, the final bill will be submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for approval and signing into law.
The amended version of HB 6732 provides that the law will take effect immediately after publication.
It also requires ABS-CBN to submit a report to the House on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the provisional franchise on or before July 30, 2020.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who filed HB 6732, said in his sponsorship speech that the House had to set aside other more important matters such as those related to the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic to tackle the ABS-CBN franchise issue.
“This is really where the leadership of Congress is coming from...We believe that these questions require our 100 percent attention - yung bagong buhay, bagong ekonomiya, bagong normal, dapat po hundred and one percent pa ang ating atensyon dito, not just by the Congress, but by the entire nation,” he said.
“If there’s one thing that people will remember about what I say today, about the work of government during this time, it is this - nothing can be more important to our people than the government defeating Covid-19 at this point in time,” he added.
ABS-CBN has been off-air since May 5, in compliance with the cease and desist order that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued after the network’s franchise expired on May 4.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reneged on an assurance given in March that it will allow the television network to continue operating even after the expiry of its franchise on May 4, 2020.
The closure order was issued after the Office of the Solicitor General warned NTC officials that they will face charges if they issue a provisional permit to ABS-CBN despite the absence of a legislative franchise as required by law.
Solicitor General Jose Calida has blamed the House of Representatives for ABS-CBN’s closure, saying the congressmen did not act on bills seeking to grant the network another franchise that have been pending since 2016.
Some sectors have blamed Cayetano, who in February insisted that the House has other priorities and the ABS-CBN bills should be tackled only when Congress resumed session this month. The network’s franchise, however, expired on the same day that Congress resumed session. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)