By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & Joel R. San Juan
LAWMAKERS on Monday reminded the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that Congress has the sole power to renew or revoke the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp., saying the filing of a quo warranto petition against the franchise of the network is a constitutional encroachment on the exclusive power of Congress.
Three committee chairmen—Rufus Rodriguez on Constitutional Amendments, Joey Sarte Salceda on Ways and Means, and Sol Aragones on Tourism—said Congress is mandated to determine whether to approve legislative franchises and should be given the opportunity to do so in the case of ABS-CBN.
Hearings were expected to be held any time soon in Congress, as the media giant’s franchise expires on March 30.
Lawmakers reacted after the OSG filed a quo warranto petition on Monday morning asking the Supreme Court to revoke ABS-CBN’s franchise for allegedly violating the terms set by Congress when it approved the media giant’s franchise in 1995.
Rodriguez, Salceda and Aragones are authors of the bill seeking to renew the franchise of the TV giant.
“The filing by the solicitor general of the quo warranto against ABS-CBN is an unconstitutional encroachment of the exclusive power of Congress to grant franchises, subject to amendment, alteration or repeal also by Congress when the common good so requires [Section 11, Article 12 of the Constitution],” Rodriguez said.
The petition, he said, also violates the separation of powers among the three coequal branches of government—the Executive department, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
“If the solicitor general wants to repeal the franchise given to ABS-CBN, it should file its complaint [with] Congress because there are now 11 bills for the renewal of the ABS-CBN,” he added.
‘Broadcasting for a fee’
In seeking the revocation of ABS-CBN’s franchise, Calida accused the company of being engaged in broadcasting for a fee, which is beyond the scope of its legislative franchise.
Calida said the network has been allowing foreign investors to take part in the ownership of a Philippine mass media entity, in violation of the foreign interest restriction of mass media provided under Section 11, Article XVI of the Constitution.
“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefiting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years,” Calida said.
Calida said network management also violated its franchise when it launched and operated a pay-per-view channel in ABS-CBN TV Plus, the KBO Channel, without prior approval or permit from the National Telecommunications Commission.
“While it is true that broadcasting is a business, the welfare of the people must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of profit,” the chief government lawyer said.
Like Rappler, Calida accused ABS-CBN of issuing Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs) through its holdings corporation to foreigners, in violation of Section 11, Article XVI of the Constitution on foreign ownership restriction on mass media.
The provision states that “the ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.”
On its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. (formerly Multi-Media Telepony Inc.), the government accused the latter of resorting to corporate layering in order to transfer its franchise without the necessary congressional approval.
“It also failed to publicly offer any of its outstanding capital stock to any securities exchange within the Philippines within five years from the start of its operations, which is an indispensable condition in its franchise,” the OSG said.
“The legislative franchises of ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc., must be revoked. A franchise is a special privilege granted by the State, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our Constitution and laws,” Calida added.
Reacting to the petition, ABS-CBN main-tained that it has been complying with all provisions under its franchise and has secured all the necessary government regulatory approvals for its business operations.
Press freedom
Rodriguez said the quo warranto complaint is, likewise, an assault on the constitutional mandate of press freedom under Section 4, Article 3 of the Charter.
Salceda said Congress should do its job and hear the franchise of the ABS-CBN.
“The independence of Congress is definitely at stake. That [complaint] should be submitted to the committee and we should invite the OSG as resource person for the consideration of that bill,” he added.
Aragones said Congress is mandated to determine whether or not it should approve legislative franchises and should be given the opportunity to do so in the case of ABS-CBN.
“Members of the House of Representatives are prepared to tackle the issues raised by the OSG as part of our mandate to study and evaluate all matters involving the renewal of legislative franchises,” she added.
The bills seeking to renew the ABS-CBN franchise are pending before the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.
Aragones said it’s important to consider the more than 11,000 employees of ABS-CBN and their families, as well as the general public who patronizes the network.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the quo warranto petition preempts or usurps the sole authority of the Congress to extend or not an existing and expiring franchise like that of ABS-CBN Corp.
“The Congress, more particularly the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, must not temporize its action on the pending bills proposing the extension of the franchise of ABS-CBN because it must maintain its independence from the executive and judicial departments. Moreover, there is no final decision on the quo warranto case,” he said.
Notwithstanding the quo warranto case, Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. said the Committee on Legislative Franchises is not precluded and continues to have jurisdiction on the franchise renewal application of the latter.
“The committee may continue to hear its application and receive requirements to prove its qualification for renewal or may scrutinize if there is any ground for disqualification,” he said.
Rep. Lawrence Fortun of Agusan del Norte expressed confidence that the Committee on Legislative Franchises will not use this as a justification not to proceed with hearing the network’s application for renewal.