Philippine lawmakers vow to get broadcast giant ABS-CBN back on air

By Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema
MANILA, May 6 (Reuters) - Philippine legislators pushed on
Wednesday to get the country's biggest broadcaster back on air,
amid widespread shock and dismay over an order by the industry
regulator for the station to cease operations after its 25-year
licence expired.
Aides to President Rodrigo Duterte sought to distance him
from Tuesday's move against ABS-CBN Corp ABS.PS , insisting his
office was as surprised as anyone and the mercurial leader no
longer had an axe to grind with the station, despite past
grievances.
Celebrities, entertainers and fans expressed sorrow on
social media and labour, business and media groups urged
intervention to spare thousands of jobs, protect free speech and
guarantee access to vital public information amid the
coronavirus epidemic.
The National Telecommunications Commission's (NTC) decision
has puzzled many lawmakers and commentators, prompting
allegations by Duterte's critics that his allies are exploiting
a strict lockdown and trying to intimidate the media using legal
and regulatory processes. ABS-CBN had no comment on Wednesday about what its next move
would be. Trading of its shares was suspended on Wednesday and
its main rival GMA Network Inc GMA7.PS surged to a one-year
high, closing up 23.7% having spiked 50% during trading.
ABS-CBN, a 66-year-old entertainment and media conglomerate,
employs nearly 7,000 people, operates 21 radio and 38 television
stations nationwide and distributes online content.
It shut down most of its radio and TV stations on Tuesday
just before 8 p.m., leaving only a few channels with separate
licences operating.
The NTC had in March indicated that ABS-CBN could remain on
air pending its licence renewal by the lower house of Congress,
which only returned from recess on Monday and has been
criticised for dragging its heels on the renewal.
There was no indication why the regulator changed its
stance, but the office of the solicitor-general said it had
cautioned the NTC against allowing ABS to broadcast without a
licence. The NTC said on Wednesday it stood by its decision and
that ABS-CBN could seek a temporary restraining order from a
court
Rufus Rodriguez, a pro-Duterte congressman, said it was
pointless asking the NTC to change its mind.
"We can't depend on the NTC anymore. We have to make sure in
this one month we are in session, we can give a provisional
franchise," said Rodriguez, who filed a resolution on Wednesday
to get ABS-CBN an interim licence.
Senate President Vicente Sotto said that if the lower house
failed to do that, his chamber could get the job done.
"Bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!," he said on
Twitter.
ABS-CBN has been on tenterhooks for several years because of
Duterte's repeated threats to thwart its renewal bid, his anger
stemming from its failure to air some of his paid election
campaign commercials, for which it recently apologised.

ABS-CBN shares have lost more than half their value during
Duterte's presidency, which began in 2016.
Duterte's legal counsel Salvador Panelo said anyone accusing
him of involvement was "barking up the wrong tree" because
Duterte had forgiven ABS-CBN.
His spokesman, Harry Roque, said the president wanted his
supporters in Congress to know that he would not be upset if
they backed ABS-CBN's licence renewal.
"He kept on reiterating in our conversation that he is
neutral and to let his allies know that her will not hold it
against them," Roque said.
Both were speaking on ANC, the cable news channel of
ABS-CBN, which operates under a separate licence.
The hashtag #notoabscbnshutdown attracted more than 17,000
posts on Instagram by Wednesday afternoon and 10,000 posts on
Twitter under #abscbnsigningoff, trending third behind news on
American and Korean celebrities.

(Writing and additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by
Raju Gopalakrishnan)