HOUSE Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, speaking for the first time since the shutdown of ABS-CBN Corporation’s broadcasting operations, shifted the blame to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the solicitor general.
“Last Tuesday we were all ambushed by the NTC,” he said in a Facebook post Friday morning, May 8, more than 48 hours after the television network went off the air in compliance with the NTC order.
Cayetano vowed that “there will be a reckoning” for the “sudden flip-flopping of the NTC and the unconstitutional meddling by the Solicitor General in the business of Congress.”
Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier blamed the House of Representatives for failing to act on ABS-CBN’s application for franchise renewal since 2016. He said the NTC was merely following the law.
The NTC issued the cease and desist order despite the assurance given by NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba under oath in March 2020 and the legal opinion of the Department of Justice that a provisional authority to operate may be granted to ABS-CBN while Congress deliberates on the 12 bills seeking to renew its 25-year franchise.
“The NTC appears to have succumbed to pressure from the Solicitor General, and issued a cease and desist order to ABS-CBN,” Cayetano said.
The NTC ordered the network on May 5 to shut down broadcast operations after its 25-year franchise expired on May 4. Under the Radio Control Law, or Republic Act 3846, a legislative franchise is required for a person or firm to engage in broadcast operations.
In his post, Cayetano said that since he assumed as House Speaker in 2019, he had prioritized legislation of more urgent matters such as the 2020 budget, the Malasakit Center Act, and the creation of the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.
He said the eruption of the Taal Volcano in January followed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic forced Congress to adjust its calendar.
Cayetano insisted in February that the House will start deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise bills in May despite growing clamor for legislators to act on the bills.
He said Congress had to immediately deal with the growing threat of Covid-19.
In the meantime, the House sought assurances from the DOJ and NTC that ABS-CBN’s broadcast operations would not be disrupted even after its franchise expires.
“It is in this context that the leadership of the House tried to gain a consensus with the Executive Department, through the DOJ and the NTC, to allow us time to properly address the ABS-CBN issue in the midst of all the other more important problems facing the country,” Cayetano said.
“Last March, members Congress and the whole nation listened to the head of the National Telecommunications Commission give his word that they would issue a Provisional Authority that would allow the network to continue broadcasting until we are able to reach a final decision. With this assurance, we wasted no time in addressing the bigger threat facing the country,” he added.
The House adjourned its session on March 12, a day after Cordoba gave the assurance.
Both the House and Senate, however, convened for a special session on March 23 to pass the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which is the government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Both chambers of Congress resumed session on May 4, the expiry date for the ABS-CBN franchise. The NTC order was issued a day later, on May 5.
“While this unnecessarily complicates the issue, it does not change the fact that the exclusive Constitutional authority to grant, deny, extend, revoke, or modify broadcast franchises; Including having the primary jurisdiction to make an initial determination whether an application for a legislative franchise should be granted or denied - still resides in Congress, and Congress alone,” Cayetano said.
“So for those asking what Congress will do - the answer is simple - our job. The Committee on Legislative Franchises will conduct hearings in a manner that is consistent with what we have always said. That is - fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive,” he added. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)