Agusan Rep supports continued ABS-CBN Operations

The lawmaker calls the failure of the National Telecommunications Commission to issue the permit a derelict indiscretion as Congress had already stated its intention to renew the company’s license. 

"Since Congress, both the House and Senate, have already expressed an unmistakable intent to grant the network provisional authority, the NTC should, as it has in the past, issue now that provisional authority," he said. 

Fortun argues that ABS-CBN helps disseminate information and raise funds to support frontliners and poor people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

He also says it is unwise to close down a company of 11,000 workers in a time of crisis, citing that the Department of Labor and Employment admits it does not have enough funds to address the effects of the pandemic on the labor sector. 

Solicitor General Jose Calida yesterday warned the NTC against giving provisional authority to ABS-CBN, saying it is against the law. 

ABS-CBN’s congressional franchise expires today, May 4, and not March 30 as previously reported. A franchise takes effect 15 days after being published in newspapers. The company’s franchise was approved on March 30, 1995, but was published on April 19, 1995, moving the expiration date to May 4.