(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, Feb. 12, said government will not tolerate abuse of broadcast privilege.
The President issued the remark before new officers and members of the board of trustees of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas in the Palace, after the Office of the Solicitor General filed a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN.
In filing the same, the SolGen had said the network and ABS-CBN Convergence violated the terms of the franchise when they offered pay-per-view channel services.
It also accused ABS-CBN of violating the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of media when it supposedly issued Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreigners.
ABS-CBN has denied the allegations.
“While our Constitution upholds the freedom of the press, the function of broadcast is a privilege granted by [the] government,” Duterte said.
He said the media’s role was to tell the truth, and this was imbued with the interest of the people.
“We will not tolerate any abuse of the privilege,” he said.
He added, however, that government should also “not begrudge anything that is publicized or brought out in public in your desire to perform your duties.”
ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to expire in March.
Isabela Rep. Antonio Albano, vice-chair of the House committee on legislative franchises, has said the panel would proceed “steadily, but cautiously” in discussing the franchise renewal of the network.
In previous speeches, the President threatened to block the renewal of the network’s franchise, calling ABS-CBN biased and partial.
He added ABS-CBN received money from his camp for the airing of his political advertisement when he was running for president in 2016 but the ad was never broadcast.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has said the quo warranto petition was separate from the legislative process of franchise renewal.
