In Matthew, 10:16 -23, it is written: " See, I am sending you like a sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and pure as doves.
While I fully agree with the vote of congressmen Eddie Gullas, Pablo John Garcia, and Raymund Mendoza of the Legislative Franchise Committee, as well as the 63 other members of the House of Representatives who voted to deny ABS-CBN a renewal of its franchise, I just want to annotate that I was truly impressed by the humility, politeness, as well as the cool and collected demeanor of Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of that beleaguered network He appeared to me as an innocent lamb in the midst of wolves. Well, the word “wolves” here is not meant to insult the honorable congressmen. It is rather a term of endearment to signify the parliamentary expertise, legal erudition, and wisdom of the representatives.
From the very start, I knew all along that ABS-CBN was fighting a hopeless battle. All odds were against it, and its greatest strategic and tactical error was to ever expect that it could win that at all. The network proceeded to the battlefield based on wrong assumptions. Out of naivete and too much idealism, the advisers of the Lopezes have unwittingly misled the network to believe that the procedures were like a hearing in court, where facts and law shall determine the judgment. No, sir. it was not a judicial proceeding but a political contest. He who has the numbers wins, not the side that has a better argument. That is how the cookie crumbles, and I pity Carlo Katigbak to ever entertain a Chinaman's chance in such a situation.
In a way, a franchise hearing, just like the impeachment proceedings against chief justices Renato Corona and Maria Lourdes Sereno, is essentially a political exercise. The jurors, who are members of the committee, do not vote according to the merits of the arguments. They vote according to party affiliations. And since the enemies of ABS-CBN include not just the speaker of the House, but also the president of the Philippines, there was no way that the politicians would vote against the wishes of the two party stalwarts. Therefore, it is safe to say that the verdict was a decision of the majority coalition. It is not farfetched to surmise that the minds of the majority were already made up from the very start.
If you look at the list of those who voted to deny the franchise, you will find the names of Mikee Arroyo, Paulo Duterte, Jericho Nograles, JF Nograles, Bayani Fernando, Luis Villafuerte Jr., Weslie Gatchalian, Bambol Tolentino, the three Dys of Isabela (Faustino Dy, Faustino Michael, and Ian Paul), the two Tans from Samar, (Sherry Ann and Alyssa Sheena), the two Garins (Janet and Sharon), the Romualdez couple Martin and Yedda, in addition to the usual suspects, Mike Defensor, Pidi Barzaga, Boying Remulla, Rodante Marcoleta, and Jonathan Alvarado. It was a folly to ever think that they could be lured to vote for ABS-CBN.
By walking into that den of lions, the meek lamb who is Carlo Katigbak, should have enough discernment to expect that there in that unfriendly and unfamiliar terrain, he would be eaten alive. It was not a board room where he excels, it was not a classroom where he shone. It was the politicians' jungle, a turf where he is a pure and immaculate virgin.