A bill urging legislators to grant ABS CBN Corporation (Formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) with a legislative franchise has been filed before the House of Representatives.
Representative Joey Salceda, Chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means filed House Bill 11252 seeking to grant ABS-CBN Corporation a franchise to “construct, install, operate and maintain television and radio broadcasting stations in the country”.
Salceda said when the former giant network lost its franchise it left 11,000 workers jobless and caused the loss of an information source during the COVID 19 pandemic.
The legislator also mentioned in his explanatory note that ABS-CBN did not violate any ownership restrictions and did not have pending liabilities as per statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
ABS-CBN ceased broadcasting in 2020 following the expiry of and failure to renew its legislative franchise.
Since then, the network rebranded itself as a mass content company producing news and entertainment programs in partnership with former rival companies GMA Network, TV5, A2Z among others.
(ABS-CBN photo)
Abner is an award-winning journalist. He received the prestigious 2015 Titus Brandsma Award for Community Communication in the Philippines and participated in the 2016 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the United States of America, sponsored by the US Embassy in the Philippines. Founder of WATCH NORTH COTABATO, a media-citizens’ transparency group. He worked as a correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and CNN Philippines. His experience in broadcasting includes anchoring for Brigada News FM in Kidapawan and General Santos City and Brigada News TV. He anchors Tira Brigada via 105.1 Brigada News FM Manila, Mondays-Saturdays.