ABS-CBN FRANCHISE RENEWAL BRIEFER

Since 2014 (16th congress), a total of 17 House Bills have been filed for the renewal of
the franchise granted to ABS-CBN Corporation. 14 of which were filed in the 18th
congress, namely; HB 0676; 3064; 3521; 3713; 3947; 4305; 5608; 5705; 5753; 6052;
6138; 6293; 6694; and 6732. All House Bills are still pending with the Committee on
Legislative Franchise, and have never been tackled in a committee hearing.

HB 6732 is authored by Speaker Cayetano; Gonzales; Abu; Puno; Fernandez; Villafuerte;

Romualdez, FM and Sy-Alvarado.

Arguments FOR Renewal:

Press Freedom.

The argument for the ABS-CBN franchise and why it should be renewed is based
on the basic constitutional right to the freedom of the press. Section 4 Article III of the
constitution provides “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“.

The power of the House of Representatives to grant a franchise to a broadcasting

network must be read in consonance with the constitutional grant of press freedom. It is
true that congress has every right and discretion whether to grand or revoke the franchise,
it is however imperative that this exercise of power takes into consideration the lasting
effects on our country and our Democracy. If the franchise is revoked it will send a lasting
signal to many members of the media that what and how they report the news will
eventually determine the future of their careers and their networks.

Franchise revocation is an excessive penalty. If ABS-CBN indeed violated its

franchise and its contractual obligations, it must be made accountable through the
ordinary legal remedies under the law.

Non-issue of Bias.

Members of the media need not remain unbiased. In most countries media outlets
are open as regards to their bias towards certain political ideologies and parties. The most
well-known example is the bias of FOX news for more conservative politicians and the
bias of CNN for more liberal politicians. It is impractical to require media outlets to have
no bias at all because it is human nature to have bias and opinions. Moreover, it is even
more practical if the biases of these media outlets are out in the public so that they are
able to use the information from these organizations knowing the bias that they have.

Networks Allowed to Operate Beyond its Franchise.

ABS-CBN must be afforded equal protection. There have been several media
organizations that were allowed to operate beyond its franchise. The best example for
this is its rival GMA-7 which was allowed to operate even after the expiration of its
franchise. ABS-CBN should be afforded the same consideration.

One Franchise, One Frequency, not Channel.

One of the most prominent oppositors of the ABS-CBN franchise is the Federation of
International Cable Television and Telecommunication Associations of the Philippines
(FICTAP) its opposition is based on the use of ABS-CBN of its frequency to air several
channels. The franchise of ABS-CBN granted a single frequency, nowhere in its franchise
did it state that it may only operate one channel. It is only recently that advances in
modern technology has allowed the airing of multiple channels using a single franchise.

Arguments AGAINST Renewal:

On May 11, 2020, Representatives Duterte, Tolentino and Yap filed House Resolution
853 directing the Committee on Legislative Franchise to initiate an inquiry on the probable
violations of ABS-CBN of its Legislative Franchise under RA 7966.

Pay-Per-View

It is alleged that ABS-CBN has been gaining huge profits by charging the public with its
pay-per-view Kapamilya Box Office channel through ABS-CBN TV Plus while using the
air frequencies provided by the government for free. This continued despite being ordered
by the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) to refrain from doing so, and await
the issuance of appropriate guidelines. However, introducing the KBO without guidelines
yet from the NTC merits only a fine of P200, according to Commissioner Gamaliel
Cordoba.
Foreign Ownership Restriction

ABS-CBN Holdings allegedly violated the foreign ownership restriction of mass media
stated in Section 11, Article XVI of the 1987 Constitution by issuing Philippine Depository
Receipts (PDRs) to non-Filipino citizens. The resulting foreign equity in ABS-CBN
Corporation also violates Republic Act No. 7042 (Foreign Investments Act of 1991) as
amended by Republic Act 8179, Executive Order No. 184 (Promulgating the Tenth
Regular Foreign Investment Negative List) and Presidential Decree No. 1018 (Limiting
the Ownership and Management of Mass Media to Citizens of the Philippines and for
Other Purposes).

Issue on Bias

ABS-CBN, as a mass media outlet, operating under a franchise given by the government
must remain unbiased and deliver news objectively to the public. It has been called out
by President Duterte for its supposed biased reporting and failure to run Duterte’s political
advertisements during the 2016 presidential race. This has prompted the President to call
them out publicly and he has vow to ensure that the network will not be able to renew its
franchise. This has later been resolved after the network’s CEO apologized to the
President. The President conceded and advised that the remaining Php2.5 Million simply
be donated to charity.

One Franchise, One Channel

Estrellita Juliano-Tamano, chair of Federation of International Cable TV and

Telecommunication Association of the Philippines (FICTAP), has questioned why the
network is allowed to carry 6 channels under the same franchise.