IN THE next few days, the Franchise Committee of the House of Representatives will vote on whether to move forward with granting the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. After a dozen of stomach-turning hearings, the first important step towards life or death of the broadcast network will be over.

A lot of us in the public saw the hearings on TV and the internet. In so many ways it confirmed as I described in a previous column, that it’s a purely political exercise with all the trappings of politicians grandstanding and scoring brownie points with claims not backed up by facts and court or legally acceptable evidence.

But what we all didn’t see is what has been going on behind the scenes: the late-night caucuses, directions by congressional leaders who rule the majority, the whispers and horse-trading within the corridors of power. And we mere mortals never will. What we can do, however, is look at history and how past experience has shown us how the HOR members have operated.

The best example is Toby Tiangco, the Navotas politician who, during his term as Representative of his district, broke protocol and testified for the defense during the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona at the Senate. Tiangco revealed how HOR leaders, under the orders of the populist president Noynoy Aquino, on two instances twisted the arms of members of congress to boot out then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and CJ Corona.

There was a lot of coverage of Tiangco’s revelation, but here’s the most succinct one from the Inquirer:

With his colleagues watching behind him, Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco on Monday broke ranks and appeared as a witness for the defense panel in the resumption of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Tiangco testified on what defense lawyer Dennis Manalo called a “pattern or scheme” in the House of Representatives “to intimidate or exert undue influence” on a member to support moves such as the filing of the Corona impeachment complaint.

According to Tiangco, the administration may exert pressure on a lawmaker by delaying or withholding his pork barrel.

A first-term congressman, Tiangco recounted how the House led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte cooked up the impeachment complaint during a majority caucus on December 12, the same day Corona was impeached.

Under direct examination by Manalo, Tiangco said he had “psyched” himself up to sign the complaint “with eyes closed” ahead of the caucus. But he said he still did not do so after finding no “probable cause” to impeach Corona.

“I was not convinced that there was probable cause,” the witness told the impeachment court. “I understand probable cause as the probability that the accused did what he is being accused of. How could I be convinced if there was no document or proof being presented?”

Tiangco recalled the previous impeachment case against then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez when his “Priority Development Assistance Fund” (PDAF) was allegedly withheld after he refused to sign the complaint prepared by the stalwarts of President Benigno Aquino III.

“I don’t want to catch the ire of the most powerful man in the country who has a very high popularity rating, that is, the President of the Philippines,” he said.

“The President can make life miserable for you,” Tiangco added, recalling his experience as a member of the political opposition during the nine-year regime of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo….

House prosecutors were generally cordial to Tiangco, who even engaged in light banter with Representative Rodolfo Fariñas during his direct examination. Fariñas, the deputy chief prosecutor, later briefly cross-examined him.

But Cavite Representative Jose Emilio Abaya, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, did not look amused, especially when Tiangco brought up the Gutierrez impeachment case.

Tiangco recalled that a text message had circulated claiming that congressmen who would not support the Gutierrez impeachment would receive “zero” PDAF, more popularly known as “pork barrel.”

If we go by the Tiangco testimony, a House controlled by the president and the current administration can do specific things to a congressman that will make the solon not only cringe, but succumb to the pressure. First, threaten to withdraw pork barrel funds or financial support for their project and budgets for their district or constituents. It does not matter whether these projects are good or beneficial for their constituents, but funding can be denied. Even if these are already inputted in the national budget, the executive – especially under the budget department – can withhold the processing and release of funds. Goodbye to the districts’ roads and infrastructure, scholarships, health benefits, feeding programs… and in these times of the Covid-19 pandemic every peso counts in localities.

Second, political support will be withdrawn and will even be channeled to the congressman’s opponent. Election time is in two years, and the most fearful words for any elected official is for the party leader or major supporter to say: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Third, you become the walking dead in the HOR. None of your advocacies or your projects will get HOR action, much less approval. Your current positions, whether you are committee chairman, vice chairman, or even just member will be rendered useless. These committee positions carry personal political and financial weight in one’s career. Work against the leadership, these will disappear.

As of today two news reports have already surfaced from administration-friendly The Manila Times and Politiko (politics.com.ph) about ABS-CBN’s impending doom, a reflection of what was making the House reporters’ rumor mill last night that the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) block of Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and the president’s son Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte are making sure that the broadcaster will get only 10 votes out of the 91 total voting with 46 committee members and 45 ex-officio members made up of house officers and deputy speakers.

To quote Politiko:

“A top-level source told Politiko that lawmakers are reportedly being threatened with zero projects if they vote to grant ABS-CBN’s franchise application. They’re also allegedly warned that they will face challengers in the 2022 elections if they don’t do the bidding of Pulong and INC.

“On top of political threats, Politiko’s source claimed some lawmakers have also been threatened with physical harm – short of harassment – should they side with ABS-CBN.”

We would like to believe that in that last sentence Politiko’s “source” was speaking metaphorically. If not, then our current crop of politicians has brought the shenanigans in the corridors of power to a whole new – and frightening – level.