Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a TV interview: Lawmakers “have no business being members of Congress” if they will decide whether or not to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp. based on what President Duterte says.
What is fundamentally at stake here is the responsibility of the legislature to conduct its constitutional functions and the Executive department’s acknowledgment of this responsibility.
In fact, in the heated debates among members of the House of Representatives last week as to why that chamber should open hearings on ABS-CBN, the most compelling motivation for House members came from Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza. He told colleagues, let’s not do this for ABS-CBN, or for the President or for whomever. Whatever happens, Congress should not abdicate its duty to hold hearings in a timely manner, otherwise, “magsara na lang tayo. [we might as well close shop].” He apparently feared Congress was moving toward either becoming the tainted institution that Marcos so easily discredited as part of his justification for shutdown during martial law; or the interim Batasang Pambansa where he was part of a tiny opposition that struggled to offer legal alternatives to the dictatorship’s critics.
President Duterte has built a formidable political machinery and loyal following in the House of Representatives, where his leadership has gone virtually unquestioned.
Would the dynamics of conflict and cooperation between the Executive department and Congress remain the same with regard to ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal?
The Filipino people, perhaps, expect congressmen to toe the President’s line, but they hold the Senate to a much higher standard, or at least used to.
People are now beginning to step up and demand that each House representative and senator come clean, disavow special or personal interests and vote for or against the ABS-CBN measure based solely on its merits, not because there is a quid pro quo arrangement.
The Senate Committee on Public Services conducted its own inquiry on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal despite apparent moves by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to gag witnesses.
The OSG had asked the Supreme Court to issue a gag order enjoining ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. from issuing statements in connection with the quo warranto petition that it filed seeking the revocation of the network’s legislative franchise.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said such an order may have a chilling effect on witnesses called to testify at the Senate hearing.
Incidentally, in the same hearing, veteran journalist Roby Alampay told senators that what is happening to ABS-CBN is already having a chilling effect on media organizations.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the SolGen’s move would not prohibit senators from requiring witnesses to appear and testify before the Public Services Committee.
He said the Constitution and various jurisprudence have many times upheld the power of the Senate to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation and to exercise its oversight power.
The truth about the ABS-CBN issue is still out there—ready to unravel. This is why we urge the House to tackle the bills concerning ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal.
Filipinos today are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution.
Not a few political analysts have noted that our people’s seeming apathy over political events has more to do with their frustrations over Edsa, more than anything else. It could well be, they say, that Filipinos see politics, and all politicians for that matter, as dirty and corrupt. For them, it doesn’t matter anymore who is in power. It would just be more of the same, so why bother?
Or, it could be that most peaceful Filipinos are just tired of people power. It could be that they’re just too busy making ends meet that they don’t have any time left for protests.
We must always remember, though, that once upon a time, through dramatic but nonviolent protests, Filipinos were able to oust a dictator, and for that our nation was hailed by the entire world.
We have experienced the iron hand of absolute presidential power before. We have seen draconian measures handed down under various names and guises.
It is almost unbelievable that more than three decades after Edsa 1986, we again find ourselves in very intolerant times. But as Thomas Jefferson once said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
Image credits: Jimbo Albano