(Eagle News)–The Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 19, did not issue a temporary restraining order on the National Telecommunications Commission’s order for ABSCBN to stop several of its radio and television operations.
Instead, the SC unanimously directed the Senate, the House of Representatives and the NTC to comment on the petition filed by ABSCBN challenging the NTC’s cease and desist order issued a day after the media company’s franchise expired on May 4.
The SC gave Congress and the commission 10 days to comment.
The NTC was also required to file a reply within “a non-extendible period of 5 calendar days” to the comments to be made by Congress.
According to SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka, the High Court also denied lawyer Lorenzo Gadon’s motion for his petition, which seeks to stop the NTC from issuing a provisional authority to ABSCBN, to be consolidated with the petition of the media company.
Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Calida declined to appear before today’s Senate hearing on the media company’s franchise, noting the sub judice rule.
It was Calida who warned the NTC against issuing a provisional authority to operate to ABSCBN, noting that there was nothing in the law that said the commission could grant the same absent a congressional franchise.
