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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider GenSan city council joins calls for Congress to renew ABS-CBN franchise

GenSan city council joins calls for Congress to renew ABS-CBN franchise

Published Feb 12, 2020 12:00 am
By Joseph Jubelag GENERAL SANTOS CITY - The City Council has approved on Tuesday a resolution which urged Congress to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN which is now the subject of a quo warranto petition filed before the Supreme Court. City Councilor Franklin Gacal, who authored the resolution, cited the possible displacement of more than 10,000 employees of the giant media network should Congress fail to renew its franchise which expires on March 30. City Councilor Franklin Gacal (Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) City Councilor Franklin Gacal
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) He said denying the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise will mean a great loss of employment and livelihood for its thousands of employees who are directly and indirectly dependent on the operation of the media network and its subsidiaries. He added that the impending closure of the ABS-CBN network will also jeopardize the democratic tenet of press freedom in the Philippines which is guaranteed under the Constitution. Gacal, who is a lawyer, said that congressmen were apparently reluctant to deliberate on the renewal of ABS-CBN franchise amid the brewing tirades of President Duterte against the media network for its alleged bias against him in the 2016 presidential campaign. He surmised that Congress was not taking the initiative to tackle the ABS-CBN franchise renewal which is about to expire in a month’s time. Despite the quo warranto petition filed against the media network before the Supreme Court by the Solicitor-General, Gacal said Congress should pursue with its constitutional mandate to deliberate the application for the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise. Local ABS-CBN officials said the City Council here was the first local government unit which expressly supported the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise. Read more: SolGen files quo warranto petition vs. ABS CBN
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