By Gabriela Baron
Lawmakers from the Makabayan Bloc filed on Wednesday, July 6, House Bill No. 1218, seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN.
The bill was introduced by ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Danniel Manuel.
“ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network was pushed off air, forced to sign off, with a vote 70-11 and a personal feud the circumstances of which are entirely admitted by the president himself,” the measure’s explanatory note read.
In an oath-taking ceremony of newly elected Davao City officials, former President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that he used his “presidential powers” against the broadcast giant.
“Kaya tinira ko talaga [ang ABS-CBN]. Talagang I used the presidential powers to tell Congress that you are dealing with scoundrels,” Duterte said.
ABS-CBN was forced to cease its broadcast operations last May 2020 after its 25-year franchise expired.
In the new bill, Makabayan noted that the ABS-CBN shutdown “cost the jobs of some 6,730 regular employees, 900 non-regular workers and more than 3,325 talents.”
The group also noted the “bigger ripple” of the ABS-CBN shutdown to press freedom and the country’s democracy.
The lawmakers also likened the closure of ABS-CBN during the martial law rule of late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1972.
Citing Section 4, Article III of the 1987 Constitution, the solons stressed that “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
“We live in a time that democracy is walking on knife’s edge; authoritarianism once again is on the rise. Disinformation, fake news, and historical amnesia reign. In times like these, democratic institutions such as the press are embattled,” the solons said in their proposed measure.
“If the environment is such that media outfits are shuttered rather than allowed to be robust and independent, where truth is muted and turned off rather than broadcast, then our democratic spaces are shrinking indeed.” – ag
