Sale of RPN, IBC eyed within 2 years

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is reviewing proposals to privatize two government-sequestered television stations as well as make the state-run NBN-4 at par with global network giants like the British Broadcasting Corp.

Secretary for Operations Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Office, under whose jurisdiction the government media networks fall, said their policy direction is geared toward the privatization of sequestered networks RPN-9 and IBC-13.

“That’s the route we’re taking. I hope we can take this step within two years so they can be useful),” he told government-run radio station dzRB.

It would not be a walk in the park though, since the ownership of these stations is still being contested in the courts. In 1986, the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino seized the two TV networks, citing their being part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.

“The two stations are not in the best situation. They have to constitute new board of directors but the President will nominate them,” Coloma said.

Appointments to the two networks require the nod of the PCGG, which is under the Office of the President.

“These stations were sequestered after the EDSA Revolution in 1986 – a long time passed already but there’s still no closure to the issue,” he noted.

As for NBN-4, Coloma said it should be comparable to BBC.

President Aquino is set to sack his predecessor’s appointees to NBN-4.

Coloma, however, clarified they would not rush into making decisions since government is rationalizing the deployment of its media assets. Coloma said he is optimistic the present administration can settle the stations’ privatization issue soon.

While awaiting privatization, the stations will operate under Malacañang’s communications group.

In February 2005, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. urged the Arroyo government to pursue an honest-to-goodness privatization of sequestered television and radio stations so that they could operate independently and grow in the highly competitive media market.

“The continued government control over these TV stations could by no means be justified. There is no lack of interested buyers for these entities. And if the privatization effort has not prospered, perhaps it’s because it is accorded lip service treatment by the government instead of being pursued aggressively,” Pimentel said.