Non-Renewal of ABS-CBN Franchise, A Grave Sin of Injustice

NON-RENEWAL OF ABS-CBN FRANCHISE, A GRAVE SIN OF INJUSTICE

Report of the Technical Working Group of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises contradicts the evidence in the hearings:

‘AN ATTACK ON PRESS FREEDOM, A CHARADE’

By Edu Punay

The Philippine Star, July 12, 2020 - 12:00am

…Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza all argued that the resolution and report of the panel’s technical working group (TWG) were “contrary to the evidence presented during the 12 hearings.”

“The TWG set aside what was proven in the hearings that ABS-CBN complied with all provisions of our Constitution statutes and regulations,” Rodriguez stressed.

…Lagman…insinuated that the 12 hearings conducted by the panel “followed a foregone conclusion.”

“Despite ABS-CBN surviving the grueling legislative inquisition, it was slain at the end of the show with premeditation and abuse of superiority in numbers as aggravating circumstances. The Technical Working Group was part of the charade,” he alleged.

Lagman suspected the findings of the TWG, which came up with its report and resolution “in less than 24 hours after it was formed and despite the fact that it had to review more than 100 hours of hearings, voluminous documents and records, as well as major contentious issues.”

“The plight of the embattled network is mercifully over except for the herd voting where the dictates of partisanship would prevail over the demands of merit,” he pointed out.

“The result of the voting would show the hand of the Speaker wherein regular and voting ex-officio members of the committee on legislative franchises, over whom the Speaker has overriding influence, are expected to vote for the rejection of the franchise renewal as they would refuse to see that the facts and the law were indubitably in favor of ABS-CBN,” Lagman further alleged.

…Proponents earlier expressed confidence that ABS-CBN would secure a franchise if only lawmakers would vote solely on the merits of the issues tackled during the hearing.

…“ABS-CBN does not deserve the death penalty. If it erred, penalize it. Because if corporate misdeed is punishable with extinction, no business will be left standing in this land,” Recto added.

…The non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise indeed sets a dangerous precedent for all other franchises, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

“When you deny the privilege of broadcast to an entity which regulatory agencies have already certified as compliant, the game changes for all the players. Resolving that a franchise holder has violations beyond the terms and conditions of its franchise opens the floodgates for possible violations of all other franchise holders even without their knowledge until they have been told so by Congress,” the senator explained.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/07/12/2027397/an-attack-press-freedom-charade

When will we wake up from this nightmare? This vindictiveness is causing thousands to lose their jobs. It is true, this is death by a thousand cuts. #IbalikAngABSCBN

Ces Oreña-Drilon,

@cesdrilon

Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 3, 2020)

Another unkind blow. ABS-CBN Film Restoration, the only one saving our film heritage in the country, is closing down. This government is not for the people [or] for its culture.

Ian Rosales Casocot,

@sandwichspy

Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 20, 2020)

The vote not to renew the ABS-CBN franchise is a grave sin of injustice because it was not supported by the evidence. ABS-CBN did not violate any of our laws. Its alleged infractions should be addressed by appropriate penalties proportionate to the offense and not the wholesale denial of the franchise. Non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise gouges out of the Philippine economy a major contributor to our country’s goods and services. Tens of thousands are unjustly deprived of their jobs and of the economic benefits that the operation of the media giant generates.

The capricious closure of ABS-CBN also degrades governance because it weakens the rule of law and thereby discourages business investment:

HOW ABS-CBN’S EXIT WILL HURT THE PH ECONOMY

By JC Punongbayan, Jeff Arapoc, Cherry Madriaga, Marianne Vital, Rainier dela Cruz

Rappler.com

July 13, 2020

…The closure of ABS-CBN could also reinforce negative perceptions on doing business and rule of law in the Philippines.

Evidently, nobody – not even the country’s biggest media organization – can withstand coordinated attacks from government. It will seem that our laws and regulations can be easily weaponized against certain business interests, at the President’s whim.

…Rule of law and governance indicators figure in our international competitiveness rankings, which might suffer.

Although the Philippines’ global doing business ranking improved last year, our global competitiveness ranking slipped 8 places in 2018 according to the World Economic Forum. The Philippines also saw declines in economic performance, government efficiency, and business efficiency rankings based on a 2020 competitiveness report.

Investor confidence could also drop [it will], even as Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III downplays the possibility.

As things stand, inflows of foreign direct investment already contracted by 14.2% in the first quarter of 2020. Investments with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) also plunged by 32% due to the pandemic. PEZA Director-General Charito Plaza is in fact already pleading with investors, “Please don’t get out, don’t transfer.”

Our credit ratings might also fall. A recent report by Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research found: “The forceful termination of ABS-CBN and Sky’s broadcasts are highly politicized, and clearly linked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s opposition toward ABS-CBN.”

It also said, “The regulator’s apparent ability to be influenced by the government continues to be a key impediment to foreign investor sentiment, and has also made the telecoms landscape difficult for both new entrants and existing players.”

https://rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-how-abs-cbn-exit-will-hurt-philippine-economy

Any argument by the economic team to “encourage investments” just went into the trashcan today with the ABS-CBN fiasco. Fiscal incentives reform to boost FDI? Mere bandaid on weak rule of law.

Ronald U. Mendoza,

@ProfRUM

Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 13, 2020)

The capricious closure of ABS-CBN is a prime example of bad governance under Duterte.

Because the shutdown of ABS-CBN originates in Duterte peevish—and unproven—claim of undue bias against him during the 2016 presidential election, it is clearly and unmistakably an attack on press freedom.

A free press is necessary to ensure the transparency and accountability of government and to check the abuse of power:

INDEPENDENT PRESS NECESSARY IN FREE, INFORMED SOCIETY

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:01 AM July 15, 2020

President Duterte was quoted claiming in a late-night speech that was supposed to focus on the coronavirus pandemic that he doesn’t read well-written articles that show him in a bad light.

He also sneered at the “bright girls” (before naming Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and calling her a “fraud”) for being critical of his government. Mr. Duterte’s rants betrays his hurt ego and undisguised aversion to negative criticisms. Particularly as the nation’s top leader, he must always be mindful that the role of the news media is precisely to report and comment on events as they see fit, independent of those who wield power.

By its very nature, journalism’s task is to tell the truth, with the ultimate goal of serving the public. Despite their acknowledged imperfections, journalists are the best critics who are beholden to no one, from whom we can seek the truth and rely upon to make the democratic process of checks and balances work.

The only way to encourage and ensure people you agree with to speak the truth is to support the rights of people you don’t agree with. Historically, suppression of the freedom of the press has always been the hallmark and downfall of dictators, because they end up fed with lies.

To be sure, there is a limitation to any freedom pursuant to our basic responsibility to respect the rights of others, but the bar set for restrictions to the freedoms of the press and of expression is very high, on account of the important role the press plays in public affairs. That explains why it is matter-of-factly referred to as the fourth branch of government.

In the words of Albert Camus in “Resistance, Rebellion and Death”: “A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad.” It is a fundamental necessity of a free and informed society. As has been observed, to be well-informed is the greatest power one can achieve. Unless we have the facts, our wrong decisions arising from misinformation, or lack of it, can adversely affect our courses of action.

In the immortal language of Justice George Malcolm in US v. Bustos (1918): “The interest of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs. Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public men is a scalpel in the case of free speech. The sharp incision of its probe relieves the abscesses of officialdom. Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and unjust accusation; the wound may be assuaged by the balm of a clear conscience” (as quoted in John Nery’s column “Who’s afraid of Maria Ressa?” 6/11/20).

DIOSDADO V. CALONGE

dvccalo@yahoo.com

https://opinion.inquirer.net/131760/independent-press-necessary-in-free-informed-society

WHEN JOURNALISTS WERE GIANTS

By: Crispin C. Maslog - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:02 AM July 18, 2020

…In my time, journalists were often referred to as the Fourth Estate, an acknowledgment of the influence and status of the press as one of the centers of power in a democratic society. In the United States and United Kingdom, the term Fourth Estate is sometimes used to place the press alongside the three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judiciary.

In democratic societies, the role of the press as a watchdog on government is vital. It is the champion of the people against abuses by the government. The role of the press is to report the news objectively without fear or favor, and to keep the government honest. As American journalist Finley Peter Dunne put it colorfully, the role of the journalist is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

The Philippines had been enjoying a viable democracy since 1946—until Ferdinand Marcos decided he wanted to remain in power after 1972, when his second presidential term ended. On Sept. 21, 1972, Marcos proclaimed martial law in the Philippines. Martial law was a historical divide in the saga of Philippine journalism. The old order of libertarian journalism came to an abrupt end.

For 14 years under martial law, many Filipino journalists did “praise release” journalism. This generation of journalists did not have role models and so they grew up without a moral compass. When they were liberated in 1986 after the Edsa People Power Revolution, they went overboard. That is why we had the sensational, irresponsible press after Edsa. And for decades after that, we had no outstanding journalists as role models.

…Today, four decades later, we live in dangerous times. We live in an era when journalists have lost their shine. Ask the ordinary Filipino who his mass media idol is today, and he will be hard-pressed for an answer. Noli de Castro? Maria Ressa? The 32 journalist-victims of the infamous Maguindanao massacre? Unfortunately, many of us do not even know their names. Sheila Coronel and Eugenia Duran Apostol? Did you know they are recipients of the prestigious Magsaysay Awards for Journalism? Ermin Garcia Sr., Antonio Abad Tormis, and Jacobo Amatong? No one knows they were community newspaper editors in the 1960s to 1980s who exposed corruption and were murdered by the people they exposed. Heroic lives lived. But who knows them now?

Ermin Garcia, who was shot dead by two assassins in 1966, wrote these prophetic words in 1962: “The only newspaperman hero is a dead newspaperman. Recognition comes only with death. The complete story of the savage conflict that rages inside a newsman between truth and camouflaged falsehood, between principle and convenience, between heart and mind, between conscience and popular favor, is never told and so is never appreciated—until the newspaperman is maimed or is killed, and only then do you get an inkling of implied heroism between the lines of his obituary.”

The press is performing an important function in society. If its members do wrong, let the law and the public decide their fate, not censorship or assault by the government. The public will patronize them if they are doing right. If not, they will just wither away. That is the essence of democracy, and the heart of press freedom.

Crispin C. Maslog (cmaslog@hotmail.com) is a former journalist with Agence France-Presse and communication professor at Silliman University and UP Los Baños, Laguna. He is now a senior consultant at the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and chair of the board, Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre, Manila.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/131871/when-journalists-were-giants#ixzz6TGnOoOWh

Non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise is a grave sin of injustice—the penalty is massively disproportionate, it inflicts undeserved, ruinous harm to individuals, to the economy, and to the entire nation, and it attacks the freedom of the press, which operates as a necessary check against the abuse of power. This unwarranted, excessive action degrades democracy and advances self-serving authoritarianism.