(Eagle News) — Senator Grace Poe has filed a resolution seeking a Senate probe into ABS-CBN’s compliance to its franchise.
In filing Senate Resolution No. 22, Poe noted the allegations by the Office of the Solicitor General that the network had violated the terms of the same when the network offered pay-per-view channel services without the necessary government permits.
The SolGen also accused ABS-CBN of violating the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of mass media when it supposedly issued Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign investors.
ABS-CBN has denied the allegations.
According to Poe, Article XII, Section XI of the 1987 Constitution, which also notes that no franchise for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippienes or to corporations or associations organized under Philippine laws, provides that “no such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires.”
ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to lapse in March.
“The power to amend, alter, or repeal is corollary to the power to review the compliance of a grantee with the terms and conditions of its franchise,” Poe said.
On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte said government will not allow the privilege granted to broadcasting firms to be abused.
Duterte has described the network as biased and partial.
He said he also paid the network for his political advertisement to be aired when he was running for the presidency in 2016, but ABS-CBN never broadcast the ad.
