MANILA – The passage of a measure revoking the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp., which operates Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), is not a personal issue, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said.
Lawmakers were merely fulfilling their Constitutional mandate when House Bill (HB) No.9710, which sought to take away SMNI’s existing 25-year franchise, was passed on third and final reading on Wednesday night.
“Tinutupad lamang po natin ang mandatong ini-atang sa atin ng Konstitusyon at ng taumbayan. Walang personalan dito. Trabaho lang,” Romualdez said.
The network earned the ire of Romualdez’s allies in the House after one of its anchors mentioned that the Speaker incurred P1.8 billion in travel expenses.
Under the measure filed by 1-Rider party-list Rodge Gutierrez, the franchise of Swara Sug is being taken back due to alleged willful dissemination of false information, and transfer of ownership without congressional approval, among others.
According to the bill, SMNI’s broadcast of falsehoods already became a bad habit and subsequently, resulted in blatant violation of Swara Sug’s franchise granted by Congress in 2019.
“This unequivocally affirms that the special privilege of holding a legislative franchise ‘constitutes a right and duty to be performed by the grantee’, and is contingent upon the fulfillment of legal and ethical obligations to our nation,” Romualdez said.
According to Romualdez, the Committee on Legislative Franchises gave the SMNI a chance to be heard about their alleged franchise violations late last year, but the network did not comply or sometimes absent during the inquiries.
“We have conducted numerous hearings. After persistent non-compliance and absence at the hearings conducted, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises cited Mr. [Apollo] Quiboloy in contempt on March 12, 2024,” Romualdez said.
“This decisive action underscores our commitment to uphold the integrity of broadcasting standards and the public’s trust,” he added.
However, it will still need a counterpart measure from the Senate for the revocation of SMNI’s franchise to be official./PN
