House panel rejects new ABS-CBN franchise

Voting 70-11, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises on Friday voted to deny 11 legislative measures proposing to grant a fresh 25year legislative franchise for network giant ABS-CBN Corp.

The vote concluded ABS-CBN’s bid to return to the air after it stopped operations on May 4, the day its previous 25-year congressional franchise ended.

The network started seeking the House of Representatives’ approval of a franchise extension during the 16th Congress, during the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III, known as an ally of the embattled network.

Chaired by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises arrived at the decision after conducting 12 days of joint hearings with the House Committee on Good Government that tackled issues that hounded the network’s bid to resume operations.

The 85 panel members present, 36 of them ex-officio members being officials of the chamber, voted for the approval or denial of “Resolution Denying the Franchise Application ABSCBN Corporation to Construct, Install, Establish, Operate, and Maintain Radio & Broadcasting Stations in the PH.”

Affirmative votes, numbering 70, upheld the resolution and rejected the franchise bills while the 11 negative votes sought to grant the Kapamilya network a new congressional license to operate a broadcast network.

Only one committee member abstained while two decided to inhibit themselves from the voting.

With the vote, Alvarez approved a motion to lay on the table the 11 legislative proposals to allow ABS-CBN to get a franchise.

The 40-page resolution was presented by the Technical Working Group that was formed Thursday to make a recommendation on the voting based on the summations presented for and against the ABS-CBN franchise application.