SOLICITOR General Jose Calida lauded the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Tuesday for upholding the rule of law in issuing a cease and desist order (CDO), enjoining ABS-CBN Corp. and its affiliate ABS-CBN Convergence from operating following the expiration of their franchises.
In a news statement, Calida said critics are barking at the wrong tree in putting the blame on the NTC, considering that it was only performing its mandate as a regulatory body in issuing the CDO against ABS-CBN.
Instead, Calida said ABS-CBN followers should question Congress why it has failed to grant the network’s petition for the renewal of its legislative franchise, which has been pending before it since 2016.
“The Constitution requires a prior franchise from Congress before a broadcasting entity can operate in this country. Absent a renewal, the franchise expires by operation of law. The franchise ceases to exist and the entity can no longer continue its operations as a public utility,” the government’s chief legal counsel said.
“The bill renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise has been pending in Congress since 2016. The question we should be asking is, why hasn’t Congress acted on it? Who is at fault here?” he added.
Prior to the issuance of the CDO, Calida warned the NTC that it may face graft charges if it would issue provisional authorities to allow the said companies to operate pending Congress” action on the renewal of their franchises.
For issuing the warning, the Office of the Solicitor General also drew flak from ABS-CBN supporters but Calida stood pat on his position saying, “The OSG has the duty to advise the NTC of what is legal or not. We will be abdicating our duty to the NTC if we don’t advise them of the legal consequences of their actions.”
In defending his position, Calida cited a 2003 decision issued by the Supreme Court which held that the issuance by the NTC of both a recall order and a cease and desist order against a broadcasting entity when it failed to renew its franchise was valid and compliant to administrative due process.
“The exercise by the NTC of its regulatory power is in accordance with the principle of the rule of law. Nobody is sacred. Even a powerful and influential corporation must follow the law,” Calida said.
Even, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra acknowledge that it is within the NTC’s power as a regulatory power to issue a CDO against any firm operating without a legislative franchise.
“The NTC’s cease and desist order as falling under the regulatory powers of the NTC,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra also clarified that while the President is the head of the Executive department, it does not mean that all decisions made by the NTC can be appealed before him.
“When I say that the President as Chief Executive has control over all agencies under the Executive department, I am saying that as a general proposition but do not mean that NTC decisions are appealable to the Office of the President,” he added.
He also admitted that the issue of whether, or not, the President may intervene is already immaterial since the latter has already set he would leave it up to Congress to decide on ABS-CBN’s franchise.
Guevarra also expressed belief that the quo warranto petition filed by the OSG against ABS-CBN Corp. and its affiliate before the SC last February has become moot with the expiration of the media giant’s franchise last May 4.
“In my opinion, this has been overtaken by events already. In short, the franchise being attacked or assailed by the OSG has already expired, last May 4, so for that reason, there’s nothing more that is the subject matter,” he said.
Calida filed the quo warranto petition seeking to invalidate the franchises issued to ABS-CBN and its affiliate by Congress for violating several of its provisions and for committing “highly abusive practices.”
Meanwhile, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) both condemned the CDO issued by NTC against ABS-CBN.
The FLAG urged the NTC to rescind the CDO in order to protect the free flow of information and the people’s right to know during this time of public health emergency.
“This is how liberty dies, not with a loud bang but with dead air,” FLAG Chairman Jose Manuel Diokno said in describing the impact of the CDO to the public.
It said that it is not only the NTC should be blamed for the fate of ABS-CBN but the members of the House of Representatives as well for refusing to hear the applications for the franchise renewal before the expiration of the franchise.
The group also blamed the Solicitor General for pressuring the NTC against the issuance of provisional authorities to the broadcasting firm as well as the DOJ for its failure to clarify the issues involving the power of the NTC.
“No compelling public interest will be served by killing ABS-CBN through the CDO. On the contrary, the order directly undermines public interest because it shuts off one avenue of information arguably one with the widest reach for our people in the midst of a global pandemic,” the group said.
Meanwhile, the NUPL likened the NTC’s CDO to a “gag order.”
“By resorting once again to outright suppression, this administration reveals that Covid-19 is not the only disease that besets us and spurs clamor for a cure,” NUPL’s Secretary-General Ephraim Cortez said.
“There will be a time for accountability, and this will be part of the lengthening list that this government will be judged on,” Cortez added.
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