July 10, 2020 – 70 members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Legislative Franchises delivered the most stunning blow to PH Press Freedom after Martial Law by refusing to renew the franchise of the country’s largest and most trusted television network. The decision came after 13 days of deliberations over allegations that have all been cleared by the Department of Justice, National Telecommunication Commission, and Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Allies and propagandists of Duterte maintain that this is an issue of violations of a private company and has nothing to do with politics. But as it goes, the only “offense” of the network seems to be their unwillingness to bow down to power even as the president repeatedly threatened that he would make sure that the renewal of their franchise would not happen.
See:
Duterte to ABS-CBN: Next year, you’re out
Duterte to ABS-CBN: Promote federalism, we’ll settle case
TIMELINE: Duterte against ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal
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