TV Patrol news anchors Noli de Castro and Ted Failon held back tears as they led in to the forced shutdown of the country’s top broadcast network on May 5.

Failon read the Lopez-led network’s official statement, saying that millions of Filipinos stood to lose a reliable source of news and entertainment because of the cease-and-desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

READ: Under pressure from SolGen Calida, NTC orders ABS-CBN to shut down

ABS-CBN said “We trust that the government will decide on our franchise with the best interest of the Filipino people in mind, recognizing ABS-CBN’s role and efforts in providing the latest news and information during these challenging times.”

The third-generation Lopezes running the network appeared on TV Patrol to issue statements.

Carlo Lopez Katigbak, the ABS-CBN president, said ABS-CBN had always been at the forefront of relief operations during calamities, but was now in need of public support.

“Ang makapaglingkod sa inyo ang aming misyon at ang aming kaligayahan. Ngayon po, dumating ang araw, na kami naman ang dumudulog at nananawagan sa inyo,” he said.

ABS-CBN Chairman Mark Lopez said: “Masakit sa amin na ipinasasara kami, pero masakit din ito sa milyun-milyong kababayan natin na naniniwala na ang ating serbisyo ay mahalaga sa kanila.”

De Castro, a former senator and vice president, reserved his strongest statements against the network’s opponents at the end of the newscast.

“Isa pong karangalan na maging tagapaglahad ng inyong mga kwento, at tagapagbantay sa mga nasa kapangyarihan… Hindi man na-renew ang aming prangkisa, at pinatitigil ang ating broadcast, nangangako kami sa inyo, hindi kami mananahimik, sa pag-atakeng ito sa ating demokrasya at sa malayang pamamahayag,” he said.

Ironically, the network’s closing ID mentioned that it had a permit to operate from the NTC until the end of December 2020.

ABS-CBN signed off at 7:52 p.m., only the second time for the network to stop broadcasting since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on Sept. 23, 1972. (PressONE.ph)