‘Duterte attack vs ABS-CBN a threat to press freedom’

MANILA, Philippines — A militant lawmaker yesterday slammed President Duterte for threatening TV giant ABS-CBN as the network’s franchise is set to expire in March.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Ferdinand Gaite believes that the President’s latest threat against ABS-CBN is “harassment” and a “threat to press freedom” in the country.

“Duterte portrays himself as ‘anti-oligarch’ but actually supports a different clique of oligarchs. His statement that the Lopez family should just sell the network also cast another bad light on the issue because it would seem that another close friend of the President is interested in the company, as what is happening with the water concessionaires,” the lawmaker alleged in a statement.

Gaite said the President should stop threatening ABS-CBN and instead just file cases over his personal grievance. Duterte had been slamming the network since the start of his presidency for supposedly not airing his political ads during the 2016 campaign.

He appealed to his colleagues in the House to start hearing bills seeking renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN this month.

“Congress should at least hold a hearing on the franchise of ABS-CBN this January and give them a fair shake. If not, then the separation of powers of the executive and the legislative would be further exposed as a sham. Congress would again be branded as a rubber stamp of Malacañang,” he suggested.

A total of 11 House members have filed bills supporting the renewal of the network’s franchise.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano also pledged that the House will have enough time to hear the bills before the franchise expires on March 20.