A lighting strike disrupted deliberations and the eventual voting on the pending legislative measures proposing to allow ABS-CBN to go back on the air for the next 25 years.
Deputy Speaker and Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta was presenting his summation against the grant of the new franchise when a power interruption caused by lighting stopped the virtual legislative proceedings being conducted via Zoom conferencing.
Stressing that the grant of congressional franchise is not a “demandable right”, Marcoleta recalled one by one the objections against the return to the air of ABS-CBN, claiming that the network has failed to exonerate itself from the accusations.
Previous to this, Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate stressed that there may have been allegations of wrongdoing and supposed violations of the previous franchise that lapsed on May 4, but all were rejected by various government regulatory agencies that included the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Immigration, Department of Justice and the Department of Labor.
“Matapos ang maraming bintang, walang napatunayan laban sa ABS-CBN. (Despite the many accusations, nothing was proven against the ABS-CBN),” Zarate said.
In his remarks that officially put an end to the hearings, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano called on all parties involved in the legislative proceedings to “refrain from making speculations” about the outcome of the vote.
“Believe me, nothing will come out of it. Except maybe more grief for your cause as no member of Congress wants to be manipulated," he said.
However, Cayetano admitted that he always made comparisons between ABS-CBN or Channel 2 and its closest rival, Channel 7 or GMA 7.
“Malinaw naman pag iyong isang network katulad ng GMA 7, may negative din naman po, binibira din naman po tayo at ilan po sa ating pero bakit hindi inaaccuse ng bias?” (It’s clear that when another network like GMA 7, despite putting us and others in a bad light, there is no accusation of bias?), he noted.
Cayetano surmised that this could be because GMA 7 has no other business, except its broadcast network, to protect.
Majority leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez also appealed to lawmakers to make a “fair and impartial judgement’ on the issue, saying that the summation of acts is of great value in arriving at such a conclusion.
“Let the facts, not innuendos or hearsay, steer us to a wise decision. I also appeal to our people to respect whatever judgment is rendered by the House of Representatives on this issue,” said Romualdez.
A total of 89 lawmakers are qualified to vote on whether or not the House Committee on Legislative Franchise should grant ABS-CBN a fresh legislative franchise for it to operate in the 25 years.
The voting was expected to follow immediately after the summations were delivered by the pro- and anti-franchise lawmakers.
Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez co-presided over the 12 hearing days as chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchise that has 46 members.
The hearings that took at least 100 hours to complete were jointly conducted with the House Committee on Good Government chaired by Bulacan Rep. Jose Antonio Sy Alvarado.
The series of speeches started sour for ABS CBN as Abang Lingkod Partylist Rep. Joseph Paduano declared his withdrawal as author of one of the 11 bills proposing the grant of franchise extension to the network.
Paduano said he is convinced that the network had indeed committed tax avoidance schemes that took advantage of the incentives granted by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
The partylist lawmaker said that during the hearing it became clear that ABS CBN formed the Big Dipper, a company exporting its shows and productions, as a tax shield and avoid the payment of billions of pesos in taxes.
Cebu Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa, together with Baguio City Rep. Mark Go, appealed for an affirmative vote on the issue as they stressed the importance of the network in delivering information and in helping Filipinos during times of calamities.
For his part, Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor assailed the network for playing a huge part in empowering oligarchy in the country.
Defensor said the giant broadcast network used its influence as a media network in protecting and bolstering its other corporate endeavors such as the power distributor, Meralco.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga called on his colleagues to veer away from the thought that press freedom is an issue in the ABS-CBN franchise.
“It is about the constitutional right and obligation to act on franchise applications which is exclusive to the House of Representatives and unless we decide correctly, this will be useless, will be meaningless and illusory,” said Barzaga.