(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, Nov. 8, threatened to block the renewal of ABSCBN’s franchise anew.
In a speech during the distribution of land to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Boracay, Duterte again noted what he said was ABSCBN’s failure to air his advertisement during the 2016 elections even if he had already paid for such.
“One thing is that, you know, when you do that to many people it’s fraud. You’re actually a fraud if you receive the money and you don’t come up with your part of the bargain,” he said.
Duterte said ABSCBN offered to return the money but he himself refused because it was already too late.
“They have to answer for it. If they cannot explain to me why they should not be given an extension [or] how not to run an outfit. I said I’m going to oppose it,” Duterte said.
ABSCBN’s franchise will expire in 2020.
A bill is pending in Congress for this.
In previous speeches, Duterte issued the threats against ABSCBN, which has also been accused of biased reporting.