NTC ‘wag gamiting sangkalan ng Kamara  

BINATIKOS ni Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman ang administrasyon sa pagsisi sa National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) sa ipinataw na cease-and-desist order laban sa ABS-CBN.

Ayon kay Lagman bigo ang liderato ng Kamara sa pag-aproba ng prankisa na inihain noon pang 2016.

 

“There is no other solution to the dilemma of ABS-CBN than the immediate renewal of its franchise now that the Congress is in session,” ani Lagman.

 

“I have repeatedly warned that Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s proffered solution for NTC to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate, despite the lapse of its franchise, is against the law and jurisprudence,” ani Lagman.

 

Paliwanag niya, ang Section 16 ng RA 7925 o ang “Public Telecommunications Policy Act” ay maliwanag sa pagsasabi ng “No person shall commence or conduct the business of being a public telecommunications entity without first obtaining a franchise.”

 

Ani Lagman, ang Korte Suprema sa kaso ng Associated Communications and Wireless Services United Broadcasting Networks vs. NTC, sinabi nito na “As long as the law remains unchanged, the requirement of a franchise to operate a television station must be upheld.”

Aniya, hindi sana nagsara ang media network kung nasa tamang oras ang pagdinig ng kamara sa renewal ng prankisa.

 

Naalala ni Lagman, noong pag-upo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa Malacañang, sinabi niyang hindi niya pipirmahan ang prankisa ng ABS-CBN dahil hindi umano, ini-ere ang kanyang political ads noong 2016 elections.

 

Kalaunan tinanggap ng pangulo ang paumanhin ng ABS-CBN.

 

“The shuttering of ABC-CBN highlights the verity that the House must exercise its constitutional powers independently and without succumbing to the President’s intervention,” giit ni Lagman.

 

Sa panig ni Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, dapat nang bigyan ng Kamara ng provisional na prankisa ang ABS-CBN hangang 30 Hunyo 2022.

 

“I am filing today a new joint congressional resolution granting the temporary franchise. I am hoping we can expedite the hearings on this measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic even if we have to hear all stakeholders through the new normal videoconferencing platform,” ayon kay Rodriguez.

 

Maghahain din siya ng panukala na bigyan ng 25 taong prankisa ang kompanya.

 

“It has to be a new grant and no longer a renewal, since the radio-TV station’s franchise already expired midnight of last May 4,” aniya.

 

“It was unfortunate that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) chose to ignore the collective voice of the House and the Senate for it to issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN to allow it to pursue its broadcast services,” ayon kay Rodriguez.

 

Si Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, sa interbyu sa ANC, humingi ng paumanhin sa taongbayan sa pagsasara ng ABS-CBN.

 

“I would like to apologize for the failure of Congress to do its job. Kasalanan namin ito e. Kasalanan ng Kongreso ito. But more important, I would like to say squarely, kasalanan ni Speaker Cayetano ito. Pagkukulang niya ito sa bayan, he will have a lot to explain one day. It may not be today but later on this issue will hound him because he’s the one who did not do his job,” ani Atienza.

 

Para kay TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza nakababahala ang ginawa ng NTC sa ABS-CBN… nawalan ng trabaho ang higit sa 11,000 empleyado.

 

“With a single stroke of the pen, an unfeeling NTC has rendered 11,000 workers jobless, increasing the vulnerability of these workers and their families to both the ravages of COVID-19 and the economic recession. Truth and the ABS-CBN workers are the first victims of the NTC order,” ani Mendoza.

 

Aniya, ang pangalawang biktima ay taongbayan. “The second victims of NTC will be the nation as a whole.  Mean-spirited and unwise, the NTC Order will effectively raise COVID-19 incidence as our poorest people, without the distraction of their favorite TV shows inside their super-heated, locked down homes, start congregating outside their crowded communities without physical distancing. Further, without recourse to their trusted and credible news sources, people will be left adrift in the miasma and mess of fake news and myths that populates other media,” pahayag ni Mendoza. (GERRY BALDO)