By Vanne Elaine Terrazola As far as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is concerned, ABS-CBN has so far not committed any violations with regards to the constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership. SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong
(SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / MANILA BULLETIN) "At this time, your honor, we are not aware of any violation or any ongoing complaint or investigation involving ABS-CBN," said SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong, who was asked in the Senate Public Services Committee’s, hearing Monday on the compliance of the broadcast network with its franchise and other laws of the country. "As far as we know right now, there is no violation but this does preclude possible violation," he said. Solicitor General Jose Calida, in a quo warranto petition filed before the Supreme Court, alleged that ABS-CBN breached the foreign ownership restriction on mass media by issuing Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to foreigners. This was the same argument he used to shut down Rappler, an online news website critical of the Duterte administration. Amatong was unable to explain further to the Senate panel about the PDRs and was told to submit instead the SEC's presentation on the matter. But lawyers, in various interviews, have refuted Calida's claim. Atty. Francis Lim, former head of the Philippine Stock Exchange, in a recent interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, explained that PDRs given to foreigners do not equate to ownership of the company. "The PDR holder is neither a stockholder of ABS-CBN Corporation nor a stock holder of ABS-CBN Holdings. It's not ownership. A PDR holder does not have the right to vote," Lim said. Lim had said that PDRs merely give holders "the right to receive dividends from the issuer." Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Ralph Recto, in separate interviews, also aired their belief that the issuance of PDRs does not mean that foreigners are given ownership. Aside from the ownership issue, senators also inquired about claims that ABS-CBN has not been paying its tax obligations to the government. Simplicio Cabantac Jr. of the Bureau of Internal Revenue said ABS-CBN has "regularly" paid its taxes in the past few years. ABS-CBN president and chief executive officer Carlo Katigbak agreed to waive the network's confidentiality right under the country's tax law, allowing the BIR to disclose figures about its tax settlements. Cabantac said that from 2016 to 2019, ABS-CBN has paid a total of P14,398,464,316.66 in tax liabilities, not including the income tax for 2019. According to Katigbak, ABS-CBN has paid P8.859 billion in withholding taxes from 2009 to 2018. The broadcast network earlier belied claims that it has outstanding tax liabilities with the BIR. In a statement last February 12, the media network said that for the past 17 years, it has paid a total of P70.5 billion taxes to the government, “making the company one of the biggest tax payers in the country.” "ABS-CBN takes pride in adhering to its corporate values of honesty and integrity in the conduct of its businesses. We have no unpaid obligations to any bank or financial institution,” it said. Read more: Senate panel starts public hearing on ABS-CBN