By Leslie Ann Aquino
The renewal of the broadcast franchise of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for another 25 years was yesterday welcomed by Catholic Media Network (CMN) President Father Francis Lucas who said it was an answered prayer.
"I made a special pilgrimage to Mama Mary to Lourdes and Fatima to pass the bill into law...our prayers were answered," he said in an interview.
"We praise that the CBCP franchise is now a law," said Lucas, CBCP Director for Franchise.
"Our stations try their very best for nation-building and we are helping disaster management, cooperatives, and farmers to plant better crops. So we are in areas that angels dare not tread," said Lucas.
The bill which seeks to extend the CBCP franchise lapsed into a law on April 22 after Duterte did not act on the matter.
The 25-year franchise granted to CBCP expired in 2017 but the operations of its 29 radio stations were never stopped by the government.
Founded in 1997, CMN is a network of radio stations owned and operated by the CBCP