Gabby Lopez’s white knight

Some months ago, at the height of the ugly Lopez war and prior to the fragile and short-lived ceasefire, someone from the Lopez majority told me they were in talks with potential investors for the troubled ABS-CBN.

And today, such talks seemed to have moved forward. A source told me that the Gabby Lopez-led faction will now get help from one of the country’s most powerful and influential tycoons, coming in as a white knight for the media giant.

Of course, nothing is final until it is officially announced, but if it pushes through, it would surely be a good move for both parties. The tycoon will expand his power by taking a stake in ABS-CBN, while the Lopez majority will get the much-needed cash infusion, which their cousin Piki had refused to provide.

The Forbes-listed billionaire leads a sprawling conglomerate and has been associated with media investments in the past, although some of those deals did not push through.

I also don’t know for sure the extent of support the tycoon is willing to provide.

I guess only time will tell. But for ABS-CBN, it’s a welcome development if it does happen because the clock is ticking – and ticking fast. It needed that cash infusion yesterday.

Liquidity crunch

In the immediate term, ABS-CBN needs at least P1.5 billion to address a yawning liquidity gap, based on the complaint Piki Lopez filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission against the company.

Here’s why: ABS-CBN has interest-bearing loans and borrowings amounting to P8.5 billion recorded as current liabilities. The amount is due and demandable in 2026.

The complaint noted that ABS-CBN has a “serious liquidity issue,” noting that the corporation’s liquid assets – which include cash, trade and other receivables, inventories and non-current assets held for sale – total only approximately P7 billion.

This, thus, creates a shortfall of roughly P1.5 billion between the loans due in 2026 and the company’s available liquid assets.

Reading this, again, I can’t help but wonder why Piki, in the first place, declined to provide a P2-billion cash infusion to ABS-CBN, knowing that it was crucial for the media giant.

His camp had previously said that this was due to unresolved audit findings that should be addressed first prior to deciding on the funding support.

Well, it turns out now, that P2 billion is also the price of peace among them, the third-generation Lopez cousins.

ABS-CBN has accumulated losses of approximately P45.5 billion between 2020 and 2025, resulting in a significant shift from a positive retained earnings balance of P13.8 billion in 2020 to a deficit of roughly P6 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.

I hope every lawmaker who denied ABS-CBN its franchise renewal knows this was the result of their highly politicized decision.

ABS-CBN has a lot of shortcomings to address, for sure, including what Piki alleged are questionable expenses and high compensation, but I hope to see ABS-CBN get back on its feet.

We need to keep legacy media alive because in the era of fake news and pseudo-organizations posing as media outfits, true journalism – and real journalists – keep the truth alive.

I hope that Gabby Lopez’s white knight will indeed come through.

Keep it fun

I had been dreading Father’s Day this year because it’s the first Father’s Day I would observe without my father.

What’s the point of celebrating with him no longer around?

I guess it’s true what they say – no matter what one’s age may be, losing a parent is heartbreaking, and the pain doesn’t really go away.

But whether I like it or not, it is Father’s Day today, so I will choose to honor him by sharing with you what made him the unforgettable father he was to me.

Anyone can be a father, you see. Raise your children and provide for them, and you have met the minimum requirement.

Father’s Day, as a holiday, somewhat originated from that idea.

Sonora Dodd, the daughter of a US war veteran, decided to honor her father who raised her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth.

The first Father’s Day was held on June 19, 1910, the birth month of Dodd’s father. Young women handed out roses at church: red for living fathers, white for the deceased (Britannica).

It became a US national holiday in 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed legislation designating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

From father to dad

But what made my father a dad was the fact that he was a lot of fun.

He had a great sense of humor and made us all laugh countless times – in good times and bad.

So if there is one piece of advice I would give to soon-to-be fathers or young fathers out there, it’s to keep it fun. Play with the kids and don’t lose your sense of humor.

That was the kind of dad our father was, regaling us with stories and anecdotes, with jokes on the side and sharing life lessons, always with humor to keep the moment light.

Laughter, as I learned from my dad, is the best antidote to a life that can otherwise be painful or overwhelming.

I hope you’re having a good laugh today, our dear Daddy.

Happy Father’s Day to you and all the dads out there.