MANILA – The Office of Solicitor General filed a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to void the legislative franchise of giant broadcast network ABS-CBN.
Solicitor General Jose Calida said in a statement on Monday that the quo warranto petition was filed in order to stop the supposed “abusive practices” of the network.
“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefitting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years,” Calida said.
The SolGen added that ABS-CBN has been hiding behind an “elaborately crafted corporate veil” as foreign investors take part in the ownership of the network which is in violation of the foreign interest restriction of mass media under the 1987 Constitution.
Under Section 11, Article XVI of the Constitution, the ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.
Calida also pointed out that the network issued Philippine Deposit Receipts through ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation to foreigners, which is also a violation of the Constitution.
“This simply means that mass media companies operating in the Philippines must be 100 percent Filipino owned because they play an integral role in a nation’s economic, political, and socio-cultural landscape,” Calida said.
He added that the franchise also abused its privilege when it launched Kapamilya Box Office pay-per-view channel in ABS-CBN TV plus without the approval of the National Telecommunication Council.
PROPER RENEWAL
The ABS-CBN, in a statement, branded Calida’s petition as “an effort to shut down the network” as they hope that their franchise will be allowed to go through the proper renewal process in a fair manner.
“These allegations cited by the Office of the Solicitor General in his press statement are without merit. ABS-CBN complies with all pertinent laws governing its franchise and has secured all necessary government and regulatory approvals for its business operations,” it said.
The network added that all their broadcast offerings, including KBO, have received the necessary government and regulatory approvals and are not prohibited by their franchise.
ABS-CBN Holdings’ Philippine Deposit Receipts or PDRs were evaluated and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange prior to its public offering.
The ownership of ABS-CBN in ABS-CBN Convergence was undertaken under the same law and structures that have been utilized by other telecommunications companies. These are transfers that are approved under the Public Telecommunications Policy Act and are fully compliant with law.
“We reiterate that everything we do is in accordance with the law. We did not violate the law. This case appears to be an attempt to deprive Filipinos of the services of ABS-CBN,” the network said.
HANDS OFF
Malacañang, meanwhile, said that Calida’s quo warranto petition has nothing to do with President Rodrigo Duterte’s previous public pronouncement against the network.
President Duterte has repeatedly threatened to block the franchise renewal of ABS CBN when it expires at the end of March. He even suggested to the Lopezes to just sell the network.
“Alam mo, trabaho ng Solicitor General na maghain ng anumang petisyon pagka mayroon paglabag sa batas,” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in an interview with DZMM.
“Ang Pangulo ay hindi nakikialam sa trabaho ng mga heads of the departments and offices. Palagi niyang sinasabi na let the law takes its course,” he added.
A quo warranto petition is a special writ or legal action which would compel a person or entity to show by what warrant an office or franchise was held, claimed and exercised.
There are at least nine bills filed in the House of Representatives seeking the renewal of the network’s franchise but those measures were not yet being tackled by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises./PN
