In a statement, Barzaga, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, said the issues raised against the media giant during the 18th Congress should be revisited particularly to determine if it had corrected the legal infringements and other violations that led to the rejection of its franchise renewal application in May 2020.
“These legal and constitutional issues include the possible violations committed by ABS-CBN on the constitutional limits on foreign ownership, its reported violations of labor and tax laws and other violations of its previous franchise. We have to find out if ABS-CBN has been following the law or continuing to violate or circumvent it,” Barzaga said.
Barzaga said the firm entered into an agreement with international cable channels Discovery Asia and the Asian Food Network following its failed merging agreement with TV5 that has a valid franchise for free TV.
He said that while he sees no possible violation on the agreement, “we do not know if there are other deals that ABS-CBN has entered into which need to be reviewed to find out if they are violating the law.”
“A reinvestigation by Congress into ABS-CBN could even benefit the company as he recalled that no less than President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. had said earlier that ABS-CBN would be able to secure a new franchise once all the issues against it are resolved,” said Barzaga.
The Congress ruled for the rejection of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal over various violations, such as in ownership issues, tax payment and labor practices, among others. (SunStar Philippines)