Lawyer's group asks public to show support to ABS-CBN this Friday
By Jeffrey Damicog
An organization of lawyers on Thursday, May 7, urged the public to express their opposition in the closure of ABS-CBN this Friday evening, May 8.
An empty booth of DZMM, the radio arm of ABS-CBN, is seen at the station headquarters in Manila on May 6, 2020.
(Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) posted on its Facebook page asking the public to join the “Black Friday Against Tyranny” protest at around 6:30 p.m. by lighting a candle, hanging a streamer, gathering in front of a blank television, and ringing church bells. The NUPL also urged the public to post what they will do on Friday evening on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The NUPL earlier warned that it will hold accountable the government officials which allowed ABS-CBN to shut down. “By resorting once again to outright suppression, this administration reveals that COVID-19 is not the only disease that besets us and spurs clamors for a cure,” the group previously stated. “There will be a time for accountability, and this will be part of the lengthening list that this government will be judged on,” it added. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had refused to issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN that would allow it to operate once its legislative franchise expired on May 4 considering the franchise renewal remains pending in Congress. Instead, the NTC issued on May 5 a cease and desist order which forced the media giant to stop its broadcasting operations. “The cease and desist order issued in the afternoon of May 5 is duplicitous because the NTC is aware of the request of the House of Representatives for the NTC to extend the network's franchise until the House has finished its own deliberations and the legal opinion of the Justice department that the NTC has the authority to do so,” the NUPL had said. “The Constitution demands that all gaps, doubts, or gray areas in the law that are tangential to basic freedoms must be resolved in favor of these fundamental rights,” it explained. Read more: NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop operations
An empty booth of DZMM, the radio arm of ABS-CBN, is seen at the station headquarters in Manila on May 6, 2020.(Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) posted on its Facebook page asking the public to join the “Black Friday Against Tyranny” protest at around 6:30 p.m. by lighting a candle, hanging a streamer, gathering in front of a blank television, and ringing church bells. The NUPL also urged the public to post what they will do on Friday evening on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The NUPL earlier warned that it will hold accountable the government officials which allowed ABS-CBN to shut down. “By resorting once again to outright suppression, this administration reveals that COVID-19 is not the only disease that besets us and spurs clamors for a cure,” the group previously stated. “There will be a time for accountability, and this will be part of the lengthening list that this government will be judged on,” it added. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had refused to issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN that would allow it to operate once its legislative franchise expired on May 4 considering the franchise renewal remains pending in Congress. Instead, the NTC issued on May 5 a cease and desist order which forced the media giant to stop its broadcasting operations. “The cease and desist order issued in the afternoon of May 5 is duplicitous because the NTC is aware of the request of the House of Representatives for the NTC to extend the network's franchise until the House has finished its own deliberations and the legal opinion of the Justice department that the NTC has the authority to do so,” the NUPL had said. “The Constitution demands that all gaps, doubts, or gray areas in the law that are tangential to basic freedoms must be resolved in favor of these fundamental rights,” it explained. Read more: NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop operations