The current administration’s motion to end the franchise of the leading broadcast network in the country is yet another attack to Philippine press freedom. ABS-CBN Corporation has been known to be one of the leading critics of the Duterte administration even before President Rodrigo Duterte was elected as president.
Duterte has raised points and remarks against the corporation stating that the corporation was rude for reporting deceptive news about him. During his speeches, he repeatedly threatened to block the renewal of the franchise of the ABS-CBN Corporation. He also cited his own political campaign back in 2016 where he accused the corporation of not airing his political advertisement despite being paid.
To further push through his will, Duterte’s pawn Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court stating that ABS-CBN has violated its operating franchise that the Congress has granted. Section 1(c) of Rule 66 of the Rules of Court states that a quo warranto petition can be filed against "an association which acts as a corporation within the Philippines without being legally incorporated or without lawful authority so to act." ABS-CBN franchise which was approved on March 30, 1995 through Republic Act No. 7966 was set to expire this coming March 30, which makes the case of ABS-CBN more vulnerable.
The 63-page petition was based on three grounds, ABS-CBN was accused of offering pay-per-view services without permit. Citing that the corporation sold ABS-CBN TV Plus and the Kapamilya Box Office channel being paid on top of the subscription has no proper permit issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Calida also claimed that the corporation uses a franchise without congressional approval. Moreover, he accused the ABS-CBN Corporation of having a foreign control and ownership.
With this, it shows how Duterte and his administration abuse their power just to target and silence their critics. However, the threat of ABS-CBN Corporation shutting down is more than just a political dispute between the powerful elites and Duterte being butthurt. It is the livelihood of the 11,000 workers with thousands of families whose jobs are put into the brink. As well as the millions of Filipinos who rely on free broadcast radio and television networks for news and entertainment. This tactic is yet another hellbent move to silence a critic of his administration and to steal the long fought democracy and freedom of the press.
History of the Philippine press being silenced is slowly coming back into the present. Philippine journalism and broadcast industry considered the Martial Law era as the darkest moment for the Philippine press. More than four decades have passed, yet we still face the continuous repression of the press. The Philippines is still unsafe for journalists considering the number of journalists killed in the current administration alone. During a time where the era of disinformation, fake news and even the state threaten the freedom of the press and democracy, shutting down one of the leading broadcast corporations will never be the answer.
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