“All because of a hurt ego.” There are no other words to describe the proceedings that took place Friday. Many will not forget how 70 House representatives voted to junk the bid of media giant ABS-CBN to a fresh 25-year franchise. The company is currently on a shutdown following the cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission. With the Lower House panel’s decision not to give the network a chance to be on air again, the company will be forced to retrench more than 11,000 individuals. This writer included.
But this will not be about me or the company I represent. But about how government can clamp on a watchdog, supposedly an entity raised to guard the government's wrongdoing. All media outlets in this country have been free to do that through news programs, commentaries and other platforms. But when they expose the truth and bring a big shock to the country on their wrongdoing, they pin down the culprit for showing their true colors.
I have learned from my politics professors that the duty of the Congress is to legislate laws, not even to regulate the media entities and those that use airwaves as a means to broadcast. Content is never theirs to deal with as there are other regulating bodies for that. In one of the marathon hearings, some representatives called out ABS-CBN for its supposed “biased reporting.” Representative Garin of Iloilo reminisced the days she was held on the spotlight for the Dengvaxia controversy. Had the media not extensively reported this matter, do you think we would have saved lives with that vaccine? And many others. They are trying to dictate news personnel on how they should write and present their stories which are favorable to them.
This is clearly crossing the freedom of expression and free press. If there were truly issues on reporting, taxation and other matters, then they should have been filed in the proper courts. But all the agencies involved in these types of issues have signified, there were no violations. So why the motion to deny the franchise then? Because it hurts their ego that a giant like this could dig their secrets which would hurt the Filipino people even more.
The hope now lies within the Filipino people today. If ABS-CBN has done them service, then I think their voices would be more powerful than ever. I do not agree with the Palace's statement that it was the decision of the people to bring down a media giant. No, it was the decision of 70, or maybe even the decision of one. If that is not yet clear to you, then I guess you have to brush up on readings and be informed. We must all wake up that we are living in a country where press freedom is threatened and anybody could be brought down because of again, a hurt ego.
My days are uncertain as I continue to pen this journey. But one thing is for sure, it hurts like hell but we will be bouncing back stronger, along with the people who believe in the concept of democracy.