THE Supreme Court has raffled out the petition filed by embattled television giant ABS-CBN Corp. seeking to nullify the cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) following the expiration of its franchise last May 5.
SC Spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka confirmed that the petition had been raffled off but declined to give further details.
“The results of the raffle is confidential pursuant to the internal rules of the Supreme Court,” Hosaka said.
Hosaka also has no information on whether the Court will have an en banc session on Tuesday, although a Court source said the justices have scheduled the case for deliberations on May 19.
The source said “nobody has read the petition yet,” thus, setting the case for deliberation on May 19 is intended “to give time to ponente and others to read the petition.”
“I do not know if the en banc will be meeting tomorrow,” Hosaka said.
Meanwhile, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal expressed confidence that ABS-CBN would get a favorable action from the SC.
He noted that his reading of the petition clearly showed very grave abuse of discretion committed by the NTC in issuing the CDO and the extreme urgency of stopping its implementation.
“This CDO issued by the NTC simply runs counter to the very fundamental dictates of social justice and even encourages poverty at the worst possible time in modern history. More so if we consider the fact that Duterte called upon his allies in Congress ‘to vote as they please’ on the controversial ABS-CBN franchise bill,” Macalintal said.
Macalintal also praised SC magistrates for conducting sessions
online to fulfill its duty, specifically to ensure the rule of law even in times of crisis.
In its 50-page petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent application for the issuance of a TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction, the network said the CDO should be set aside as it violates the right of the public to information.
It said the CDO is tantamount to curtailment of freedom of speech guaranteed under the Constitution.
ABS-CBN argued that the NTC should have allowed the company to continue operating pending Congress’s resolution of its application to renew its franchise.
It said NTC had previously allowed other companies to continue to operate pending renewal of franchise, thus, violated the company’s right to equal protection of the law. “There is no reason why the same practice should not be applied to ABS-CBN,” the petition read.
The network accused NTC of violating its right to due process when it issued the CDO without notice and hearing.
It also argued that the NTC is bound to heed the legal opinion issued by the DOJ, that it is entitled to a PA pending Congress’s action on its application for the renewal of its franchise.
The NTC issued the CDO despite the assurance made by NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba at the March 10, 2020, House Committee on Legislative Franchises hearing, that the agency will issue a PA to ABS-CBN.
Show-cause order
Also on Monday, the Legislative Franchises panel issued a show-cause order against NTC for issuing its CDO against ABS-CBN.
In a May 5 letter, Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez ordered NTC Commissioner Cordoba, Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios, Deputy Commissioner Delilah Deles, Leal Branch Head Ela Blanca Lopez to explain why they should not be cited in contempt for directing ABS-CBN to cease its broadcast operations.
“You are ordered to explain within 72 hours from receipt of this order why you should not be cited in contempt or proceeded against for issuing an order to ABS-CBN Corporation to immediately cease and desist from operating its radio and television stations after having assured the House of Representatives, during the hearing of the Committee on Legislative Franchises on 10 March 2020,” Alvarez said.
According to Alvarez, the NTC vowed to let the ABS-CBN continue its operations until Congress has finally disposed of the franchise renewal bills, consistent with precedents and practice and the position of the Department of Justice, as well as the clear directive of the House of Representatives that ABS-CBN should be allowed to continue to operate until such time that Congress has decided on its application.
Last week, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano assured the public that the lower chamber will do its job on the matter of the network’s franchise.
According to Cayetano, the NTC order “unnecessarily complicates the issue, it does not change the fact that the exclusive constitutional authority to grant, deny, extend, revoke, or modify broadcast franchises—including having the primary jurisdiction to make an initial determination whether an application for a legislative franchise should be granted or denied—still resides in Congress, and Congress alone.”
Dead on arrival
However, Rep. Edcel C. Lagman said the ill-fated franchise of ABS-CBN was dead on arrival at the NTC.
“It was the leadership of the House of Representatives which deprived ABS-CBN of its authority to operate by inordinately stalling the network’s franchise renewal and allowing it to expire,” he said.
“Even the Supreme Court will have difficulty in finding legal anchorage for issuing a temporary restraining order against NTC since the law is clear under RA 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act that: ‘No person shall commence or conduct the business of being a public telecommunications entity without first obtaining a franchise,’” he said.
According to Lagman, any alleged issuances by NTC of provisional authority to operate to those with expired franchises cannot be invoked as a precedent in violation of the law.
“Only Congress, more particularly the House of Representatives where private bills like legislative franchises emanate, can resurrect ABS-CBN’s operations by forthwith granting the network a renewed 25-year franchise,” he said.
For his part, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez defended Cayetano from critics blaming him for the franchise’s non-renewal.
Rodriguez said Cayetano sent the letter “because we had no time to tackle the bills seeking the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise before the Lenten adjournment in March.”
“But it turned out we could not rely on the NTC, which is part of the executive branch. In case of conflict between the executive and legislative branches, it is but natural for NTC to follow its executive bosses,” he said.
“So now we have to do our job. Let us consider my proposed joint resolution of Congress giving a provisional franchise to ABS-CBN up to June 30, 2022, when the life of the present 18th Congress expires. We should also consider my bill granting the network a new 25-year franchise,” he said.
“The solution really is to give it a franchise, whether it is provisional up to 2022 or for 25 years,” Rodriguez added.
With a report by Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
1 comment