Cayetano: NTC ambushed House

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said the House of Representatives was ambushed by the NTC when it released the cease and desist order against ABS-CBN last Tuesday. 

Cayetano blamed Solicitor General Jose Calida for the release of the closure order. “Despite the legal opinion of the Department of Justice... (and) a resolution from the Senate, and several verbal and written assurances given to Congress - the NTC appears to have succumbed to pressure from the Solicitor General, and issued a cease and desist order to ABS-CBN,” the speaker posted on his Facebook page. 

Last March, Cayetano and other representatives promised to issue a provisional authority for ABS-CBN while they work on the company’s franchise renewal. NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba had also agreed to provide a temporary license for the network in the same month.  

The speaker said work on ABS-CBN's franchise was sidetracked by the Taal Volcano eruption and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He assured that Congress continues to work on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal. 

“As for the sudden flip-flopping of the NTC and the unconstitutional meddling by the Solicitor General in the business of Congress, I promise you - there will be a reckoning,” Cayetano said. 

Albay representative Edcel Lagman however said Cayetano contributed to the issue by kowtowing to President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated personal opposition to the renewal. 

“Moreover, Cayetano cited his own personal grievances against ABS-CBN to justify his temporizing on the consideration of the 12 pending bills for renewal,” said Lagman. 

He however agreed that the House of Representatives can absolve itself by approving ABS-CBN’s franchise at the soonest possible time.