ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Lopez Katigbak on Thursday broke his silence amid the raging issue of the renewal of the TV giant’s broadcast franchise, which expires in one month.
Katigbak, in a video posted on the ABS-CBN News site and aired over flagship newscast TV Patrol, vowed to follow the process of renewing the network’s license and answer all allegations raised by Solicitor General Jose Calida in a quo warranto petition filed with the Supreme Court last week.
“Wala po kaming nakikitang dahilan para hindi magtuloy ang paglilingkod ng ating ABS-CBN. Gayun pa man, kami ay handang sumunod sa anumang proseso na dapat pagdaanan ayon sa batas,” said Katigbak, president of ABS-CBN since 2016.
(We don’t see any reason to stop the service of our ABS-CBN. Nonetheless, we are willing to go through whatever process is required by law.)
Calida accused ABS-CBN of circumventing the constitutional ban on foreign ownership, pointing to ABS-CBN’s issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign investors, illegally charging subscribers to a digital movie channel, and illegally operating a mobile service.
ABS-CBN has denied any wrongdoing, and legal experts have said that the supposed “highly abusive practices” of the TV network were not enough grounds to shut down the network and should be raised instead before regulatory agencies or lower courts, not the Supreme Court.
Katigbak also thanked individuals and groups that had expressed support for ABS-CBN. “Ang mga pahayag ninyo ay nagbibigay sa amin ng tibay ng loob at lakas, lalong lalo na sa oras ng matinding pagsubok (Your statements give us courage and strength, especially in these trying times),” he said.
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Also on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon warned that ABS-CBN would have to shut down when its 25-year franchise, under Republic Act 7966, expires on March 30, 2020.
Drilon told ABS-CBN News’s Karen Davila that pronouncements by some lawmakers that ABS-CBN would be allowed to operate on a temporary license until the end of the current session of Congress, as legislators deliberate on the franchise extension, were mere theories.
“There are Supreme Court decisions that say that the National Telecommunication Commission cannot issue an operating permit without a franchise being granted to the licensee. That has been settled by the Supreme Court. Therefore on April 1, if there is no extension of the franchise, tapos na (it’s finished),” he said.
Drilon said a resolution of both houses, which he proposed earlier this week, was needed to temporarily extend the franchise, adding “I do not want to risk the livelihood of 11,000 ABS-CBN employees on a theory that ABS-CBN and its 11,000 workers can continue after March 30 without a franchise.”
But it must be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, who had vowed to block a new franchise for ABS-CBN, he said.
“Let me make it very clear, once enacted our joint resolution has the effect and force of a law and it must be approved by the president,” he said.
On Friday, Malacañan Palace appeared to walk back Duterte’s previous statements against ABS-CBN and told Congress to do its job.
“You know, the president made utterances against ABS-CBN. He made certain statements like, ‘I’ll shut down.’ But hindi naman literally iyon e (It’s not literal). He wants to shut down the fraudulent practices of your network,” Duterte spokesman Salvador Panelo told ABS-CBN’s Karen Davila.
“Why does the speaker (House Speaker Alan Cayetano) have to take a cue from Malacañang? Why do members of Congress have to wait for what the President will say about anything?”
Below is ABS-CBN President Carlo Lopez Katigbak’s full statement:
Mga kapamilya,
Isa po ako sa labing-isang libong empleyado ng ABS-CBN na nagpapasalamat sa pagkakataong makapaglingkod sa inyo.
Sa mga darating na araw, mabibigyan kami ng pagkakataong linawin ang mga isyu tungkol sa aming prangkisa. Wala po kaming nakikitang dahilan para hindi magtuloy ang paglilingkod ng ating ABS-CBN. Gayun pa man, kami ay handang sumunod sa anumang proseso na dapat pagdaanan ayon sa batas.
Sa nakaraang 65 years, naging tapat po kami sa aming misyon na maging In the Service of the Filipino. Sa lahat po ng aming pinaglilingkuran, isang karangalan po na kami’y naging bahagi ng inyong tahanan at ng inyong pamilya. Sana po ang aming mga programa ay nagbibigay ng impormasyon, saya, pag asa at inspirasyon sa inyo. Sana po nakatulong sa inyo ang mga serbisyo publiko ng ABS-CBN Foundation tulad ng Bantay Bata at Sagip Kapamilya.
Serbisyo po ang layunin ng ABS-CBN. Ngunit kami po ay hindi perpekto. Nagkakamali din po kami at handa po naming itama ang anumang pagkukulang. Kasama ito sa proseso ng pagiging isang mas matatag na kumpanya.
Sa aming mga mambabatas, nasa inyong kamay po ang kinabukasan ng ABS-CBN. Nagtitiwala po kami sa sinasabi ninyo na mabibigyan kami ng pagkakataong sagutin ang mga katanungan ng mga mamamayan. Dinarasal din namin na makita ninyo ang mga kabutihang naidulot ng ABS-CBN sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino.
Para sa mga kapwa ko empleyado sa ABS-CBN…mga Kapamilya, salamat sa inyong sipag at katapatan sa patuloy na pagbibigay serbisyo sa kapwa Pilipino. Alam ko po kung gaano kahirap magtrabaho habang kayo ay nagaalala sa inyong hanapbuhay at nangangamba sa kapakanan ng inyong mga pamilya. Asahan niyo po na gagawin namin lahat para matuloy ang serbisyo ng ABS-CBN.
Para sa napakadaming nagpahayag ng suporta sa ABS-CBN, maraming maraming salamat po. Ang mga pahayag ninyo ay nagbibigay sa amin ng tibay ng loob at lakas, lalong lalo na sa oras ng matinding pagsubok. Asahan niyo po na ipaglalaban namin ang pagkakataong ituloy ang serbisyo sa inyo.
Sa mga darating na araw, hinihingi po namin ang inyong panalangin na magtutuloy ang ating pagsasama. Sa ABS-CBN po, naniniwala kami na Family is Forever.
Maraming Salamat, Kapamilya.
(PressONE.ph)