MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to monitor the proceedings of the Senate hearing on Monday regarding the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue, Malacañang said Sunday.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte has “too many” work to do on the day of the scheduled hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services on the matter.
“Hindi interesado diyan si Presidente. Maraming trabaho si Presidente,” Panelo said.
The Senate hearing will be held two weeks after Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court seeking to revoke the franchise of ABS-CBN due to alleged foreign ownership and bypassing of authority of the National Telecommunications Commission.
Panelo, however, reiterated the Palace’s statement that it has no take in the filing of the quo warranto petition.
“Trabaho ng SolGen ‘yan. Hayaan mo siyang gawin ang trabaho niya,” he said.
Panelo added that the Palace will not interfere with the matters of the Senate, especially that its leadership has decided not to hold a session on Monday to make way for the ABS-CBN franchise renewal hearing.
Duterte has been vocal in the past against the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN after the network supposedly did not air a political advertisement that was already paid for during his presidential bid in the 2016 elections.
The TV network’s franchise is set to expire on March 30, but the House Committee on Legislative Franchises has yet to hold a single hearing on the 11 bills seeking for the franchise’s renewal.
House panel vice chair Tonypet Albano, nevertheless, said there was no direct pressure from Duterte in connection with the pending bills on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal. (GMA News)
