The truth about the ABS-CBN issue
The issue over the 25-year franchise of television giant ABS-CBN, which expires end of March, is clear to those willing to see it for what it is. It is only getting sidetracked and made complicated by those with an interest in ABS-CBN's continuance, and those riding on the network's woes for their own partisan political reasons. The issue has never been about curtailment of press freedom, political repression, or loss of employment.
Let us go to where it all started --with President Rodrigo Duterte, the most powerful person in the country. Duterte has a beef against the network, claiming it refused to air his paid ads during the campaign, and for being biased and less factual about him since he became president. Duterte did not hide his disdain for ABS-CBN and openly threatened to close it.
But the most powerful man in the country is not the despot his political enemies and ABS-CBN supporters make him out to be. He did not padlock the network. If he wanted ABS-CBN out of the picture, he wanted it done by the book. If you are the president, research is easy. He soon found out about the network's expiring franchise. And it pays to have allies in Congress, which has sole authority to grant franchises.
One thing Duterte also has that ABS-CBN and its supporters and convenient friends do not is the ability to study and learn from life's lessons. Duterte knew that every dog has its day, that life is "weather-weather lang," or so says former president Joseph Estrada, and that sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. ABS-CBN, heady from its media dominance, never gave thought to its own comeuppance.
Duterte, ever the good student of life, knew that in this imperfect life, even the almighty ABS-CBN could not be without its vulnerabilities. In fact it had two --an expiring franchise and, more damningly, a possible constitutional violation in its ownership. Not only did ABS-CBN ignore the lesson about life being a series of ups and downs, it also forgot the admonition about not throwing stones when you live in a glass house.
It is truly amazing that for one to be so relentless and unforgiving toward Duterte, ABS-CBN actually has its own skeletons in the closet. A 22% stake in ABS-CBN by foreign investors may not be a controlling interest in the network, but it is foreign ownership nevertheless. No wonder the network has chosen not to address the ownership issue frontally.
But then it is still okay. Duterte has chosen to fight ABS-CBN legally. The network can argue and defend its case in the right venue. The problem is, will the allies of Duterte in Congress give the network the same fairness it so earnestly denied Duterte? No one can claim repression and curtailment of press freedom and remain truthful in light of the rest of the Philippine press's continued vibrancy. Only ABS-CBN has its unique woes.
As to the potential loss of jobs should ABS-CBN close, let it simply be said that just because a fugitive from the law has 12 children and a wife to feed is never a reason not to turn him in. In the case of ABS-CBN, it becomes even more compelling. As a watchdog of society, ABS-CBN cannot point out society's ills even as it itself has its own infirmities. A mirror cannot give a faithful reflection if it is warped.
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