Volume XL, No. 88 .. Wednesday, February 26,2OZO -.: pl0.

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 appea l to allow the House
leadership under Speaker
Alan PeterCayetano to do
its work, f rcc ft om distrac-
Frcm page 7 tionand rurd uepressure in
Ronualdez,whochairs connectionwith the request
the House committee on seeking to renew for 2,5
rules, made his statement years the expiring legisla-
in lesponse to House re- tive franchise of AB9CBN
porte$' queryabouthisre- Broadcasting Colpontion.
action to HJRNo. 28. "I pray that the stake.
"ltis now up to the Com- holde$ in thisissuegive tlre
mittee Chairrnan and Mem- House committee on legis-
bers to decide on how to lative franchises enough
dispose of the FIJR No. 28, time to deliberate intelli-
whether to prioritize it over gendy on the ABS-CBN
a slew of AB9CBN fran- franchise extension " said
drise extension bills filed Romualdez. "I enjoin all
separatelybyccrn$essmen. stakelDlde$to submittheir
This may furttrer clog up position pape$ on the is-
Commit-
the c*lendar ofthe sue as soon as possible so
tee on Franahises since it that the House committee
also has to consider Hous€ on legislative franchises
Resolution (HR) No. 639 nray considerall viewpoinq
filedby Albay Rep. Edcel in theirdeliberations.
Lagman last January 6," "There may be a need
said Romualdez- to consolidate all these
He also made a public measures into one substi-
tute bill in order not only to
ensure systematic alld or-
derlv deliberations df thc
mea;ures in the committee
and plenary levels but to
asrure the public that all
stakeholders are given
equal opportunitics to air
thel position on the subject
franchise.renewal" said
Romualdez.
Cayetano has nViin-
impartiallyweigh th€reareaLrc abusesonthe
tained to
the merits of the rcquest
seeking to renew the giant
television network's legis-
lative franchise.
Hevowed thatfhehear-
ings will be organized and
thatissues tobe raised will
be made clear even before
the hearingbegins.
"We want A BS to get or
not get their franchis€ 6ased
on themerits and we can
only go to the medts if wc
have a sober discussion ployees, and viewers will
tlfougha comrnitteehear-
ing," said Cayetano.
The Speaker further clar'-
ified that the discussion in-
cludes alleged "abuses" by
the nrediaof pressf recdom.
"C)n triai here is notonlv
ABS. Yes, the politician'.s
vis-a-vispress freedom but
also the joumalists vis-a-
vis press freedom,- We all
know tlrat there are abuses
on the politicians'side. But
mediaside. Sowhencanwe
think about that soberly?
$4ren can we discuss
kailan mali na gamitin mo
ang qLedia for specfic busi-
nessln teres t or lor a specif-
ic political interest? When
is it fake news? When is it
opinion? There is so much
to discuss," said Cayet-
ano.
He added that "truth
and all, management, em-
be given an opportunity to
beheard."
In filingHJRNo.2S, del
Mar.iied that l2bills seek-
ing to renew the franchise
of ABS-CBN Cor?oration
remain pending in the
House committee on legis-
lativefranchises.
As Congress sets to ad-
journ on March 13, del Mar
said both the House of
Repiesenta tives and Sen-
ate "need additional time
to review, assess, and de-
terrninewhetherornotABS
CBN Broadcasting Corpo-
ration shall be granted the
renewal of its franchise."
A coun terpart join t res-
olution has also been filed
in the Senate-
"This will enable Con-
gress to discharg€ its con-
stitutional duty of protect-
ing public interest in the
grant and repeal of fran-
chises without trampling
on rights to due Process
and infringingonfree press taken na sinabi n'yang
and free speech," said del 'We'renotpe ecE' and fhat
Mar, who served since the they're willing to corrcct
.8'r' Congress. mistakes or listen if there
HJR No. 28 reached the are mistakes.
House committee on legis- Ihat's the kind of dis
lativefranchises ledbyPal- cussion we need," the
awaJl Rep..Fmnz Alvarez Speaker said.
last February 24 or,the same In the meantime', Cayet-
day when the panel for- ano enjoined the parties in-
mally started deliberating vol v(d, includ ingMembers
all pending measurcs on i,f thr H,)us€. to adopt the
the matter by asking all willirrgncss of Katigbak to
-correct
stakeholders to submi ttheir acknowledge .rnd
respective positions.
Cayetano also lauded "I'm hoping when we
AB9CBN President and comeba&inMay,rrralamig
Chief Executive Officer na ang ulo ng laiat. I ad-
Cado Ictigbak foi express- vise all of us to take the
ing ope@iss to discuss all mihdsetof P!€sidentCarlo
the allegations posed KatiSbak, President of
against the media giant. ABS, na ipaglalaban niya
"It is obvious to us and ang values ng kalyang
we expected na sasabihin organization... but ywlg
niya na ipaglalaban n'ya openness tohearwherethey
:rng ABS and tllat ABS is can be better. At garoon
about service. that'swell
So din sa amin sa Kongreso,"
taken. But also it is well he said. RPP