Duterte’s lawyer wants court to scrap media giant’s permit
THE quo warranto petition against broadcast firm ABS-CBN is proof that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is exhausting all possible means to close down the media outfit, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said on Monday.
According to the NUJP, the latest move from the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG) also tramples on the constitutional provisions on freedom of the press.
“This proves without a doubt that this government is hellbent on using all its powers to shut down the broadcast network whose franchise renewal, now pending in Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte has personally vowed to block,” NUJP said in a statement following the OSG’s filing of the quo warranto petition.
“We must not allow the vindictiveness of one man, no matter how powerful, to run roughshod over the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the press and of expression, and the people’s right to know,” the group further said.
Earlier, Solicitor-General Jose Calida personally filed the “Very Urgent Omnibus Motion for Quo Warrant” petition before the Supreme Court to void the franchise given to ABS-CBN due to what he called the “abusive practices” of the network. The petition was filed less than a month before its franchise expires.
NUJP asked Congress and the Supreme Court to decide on their own as co-equal branches of the executive and avoid being used for Duterte’s interests while calling on the public and journalists to be vigilant.
“We call on Congress and the Supreme Court to once and for all prove to the people that they are truly, as the Constitution envisions, independent and co-equal branches of government that are not at the beck and call of the executive,” NUJP said.
“We call on all Filipinos who cherish democracy to stand up and defend press freedom because this freedom belongs to you. This is not just about ABS-CBN. This is not just about the Philippine media. This is all about whether anyone can or should deprive you, the Filipino people, of your right to know,” it said.
The quo warranto petition is not the government’s only move against the network. Congress is set to tackle the network’s franchise extension as part of their duty under Republic Act No 3846, while Duterte previously said he would block any attempt to extend its franchise, even urging network owners to just sell the company.
‘President does not meddle’
Meanwhile, Malacanang Presidential Palace on Monday stressed that the president has nothing to do with the petition.
“Heads of every government agency have their own mandate. And the president does not meddle in it,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in an interview on Quezon City-based DZMM Radyo Patrol.
“If it’s your duty to sue entities who violated the law, you should do so and let the courts decide on your complaint,” he said.
Duterte has repeatedly threatened to shut down the media network due to its alleged failure to air his 2016 presidential campaign advertisements.
In a speech during a visit to earthquake victims in M’lang town, Cotabato province in December, the president railed against the TV network, whose franchise will lapse on March 30, this year.
“This ABS [CBN], your contract [franchise] will expire. If you renew it, I don’t know what will happen to you. If I were you, just sell it. Because it’s only now that the Filipino can retaliate against your abuses. And I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever,” Duterte said.
However, Panelo claimed that the president’s verbal threat is part of his freedom of expression and is “unrelated to the Solicitor-General’s move”.
“We cannot deprive the president as a citizen of this country to express himself,” he said.
The OSG declined to give copies of the petition to the media, but in his written statement, Calida claimed that ABS-CBN is hiding foreign ownership stakes behind a corporate veil.
“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefitting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years,” Calida said.
Several bills seeking to renew ABS-CBN for another 25 years remain pending before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Legislative Franchises.