Looking back yet again at the House of Representatives' rejection of the ABS-CBN's franchise renewal application, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Thursday that the camp of the television and radio giant had "no remorse" for its wrongdoings.

Cayetano, in his manifestation during the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's hearing Thursday on alleged anomalies linked to the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), digressed and said the dual citizenship of ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III wasn't that big a deal in the broader discussion of their franchise renewal.

"So kung yung dual citizenship, kung yun lang po, pwede kong sabihin nagkamali lang eh. (If it's just about the dual citizenship, I could say that it was just a mistake). But if you look at everything together, there was really an ambush of the system," he said.

Lopez is a Fillipino citizen and at the same time an American citizen. This was made a huge talking point by the joint House panel that handled the franchise application.

"Mr. Gabby Lopez could have done two things: one, he could not have accepted being an officer in ABS-CBN, or he could have renounced his US citizenship before he became chairman," Cayetano said.

"But we heard their testimony eh. Wala man lang remorse eh. Wala man lang nagsabi sa kanila, 'Boss baka nagkamali kami, nakinig kami sa abugado namin. Boss dito sa Big Dipper, sorry, bilyon ang nawala sa inyo, pero iyan ang advice ng tax lawyers eh. (There was no remorse. Nobody from them said, 'Boss, maybe we were wrong, we just listened to what our lawyers said. Boss, regarding Big Dipper, sorry the government lost billions, but that was the advice of our tax lawyers)," he said, recalling issues that were taken up during the 12 hearings held by the joint panel.

"'Boss, dito sa labor dapat sinettle na namin yung iba dito rather than tini-RO nang tini-RO. Dito sa Amcara, tama kayo. (Boss, we should have settled our labor cases instead of seeking TROs. You were correct about Amcara),'" added the Speaker.

On the payment of taxes to the government, Cayetano couldn't help but compare the shuttered ABS-CBN to GMA, its erstwhile main rival in both TV and radio.

"Ang GMA 7 mas maliit ang kita, pero ang binayad P3 billion in three years. Pero ang ABS-CBN, mas malaki ang kinita pero ang binayad P600 million. (GMA 7 earned a smaller profit, but they paid P3 billion in three years. But ABS-CBN, which earned much more, paid P600 million)," he noted.

"Airwaves ng gobyerno ang ginagamit, tignan niyo gaano kalaki nawala sa gobyerno. At sasabihin niyo lang sa akin legal yun? Napaka-inutil naman natin na Kongreso kung lahat nang palusot na sasabihin, legal yun (Government airwaves are being used, look at how much government has lost. And then you tell me that it's legal? How useless Congress would be if it accepts all excuses just because they're legal)."

Cayetano continued: "Not everything that is legal is moral. And that's why you have a difference between legal and public policy. The public policy is for you to look at the spirit of the law."

He went on to address a criticism against him pertaining to his citizenship, as it relates to ABS-CBN head honcho Lopez.

"Hindi ko ikinakaila, Amerikana nanay ko. Pero noong nag-decide ako na mag-public service, sinigurado ko pong bumuto sa Pilipinas (I don't deny it, my mother is American. But when I decided to enter public service, I made sure that I would be a Philippine voter). And that was the act of having a choice. That's why I never voted abroad.

"I have a Filipino birth certificate. Kaya nanalo ako sa kaso na iyon during that time na tumatakbo akong senador. (That's why I won that case during that time than I ran for senator)," Cayetano said. 

The House Legislative Franchises panel adopted a recommendation to reject the bills seeking ABS-CBN's franchise renewal last July 10.