Despite being cleared by regulating agencies, President Rodrigo Duterte still wants ABS-CBN to be investigated for alleged graft charges, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. revealed on Tuesday.
Last year, during the franchise renewal hearing of ABS-CBN, there were several allegations thrown against the media company. However, none of these were proven true.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also cleared the company from possible regulatory violations and confirmed that they have been compliant with the laws. BIR also affirmed that ABS-CBN has paid their due taxes and it was able to secure a tax clearance from the said agency in 2019.
Despite these, still Congress decided to shut down the network.
And months after as the network slowly rises again through all the platforms available, they again became a target by Duterte.
On Monday night, Duterte assured that even though Congress may grant ABS-CBN a fresh franchise, he will still not allow the network to resume its broadcast. He pointed out the unpaid taxes and condoned loans of the network as the reason for his decision.
When Roque was asked about this, he confirmed that Duterte was now pushing the Office of the Ombudsman to probe ABS-CBN for possible graft charges.
“Ni-refer na po ng Presidente ang bagay na ito sa Ombudsman,” he said.
“Ombudsman na po ang bahala sa cause of action for violation of our Anti-Graft law,” Roque added.
Recently, Senate President Vicente Sotto III sparked hope for the come back of ABS-CBN as he filed a bill seeking the renewal of the network’s franchise. However, it is unconstitutional for Senate to author a franchise bill because such bills should originate from Congress.
With this, Batangas Representative Vilma Santos-Recto then echoed Sotto’s bill as she filed a new bill for the network’s franchise. But, House committee for legislative franchises chair Franz Alvarez believes that ABS-CBN franchise renewal should be reopened in the next Congress.
As of now, maybe it is safe to say, that as long as Duterte is the President, ABS-CBN’s chance for a new franchise remains unclear.
