It’s been almost a year since ABS-CBN went off-air and surrendered all of its television and radio frequencies in compliance with government orders. But it looks like a new year comes with new hope for the network (and the entire media industry, in a way) as surprising news from lawmakers hit the airwaves today.
On Jan. 4, Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III shared through a Facebook post that he filed a bill pushing for the renewal of ABS-CBN’s operating franchise. In the document, the senator seeks to allow the network to “construct, install, operate and maintain television and radio broadcasting stations” in the country for the next 25 years after the bill becomes effective.
“Based on the Social Weather Stations survey in December 2019, which was released in September 2020, television remains to be the top source of news in the country, with 69 percent of Filipino adults or about 45 million individuals, getting news through it; while 19 percent of Filipinos rely on the radio for their news,” wrote Sotto in the bill.
“I noticed the TV stations have been replacing their news programs with animes. It means competition is absent and mediocrity is creeping in because of the absence of a strong competitor like ABS-CBN,” stated the senator in a text message as well.
Following Sotto’s move, House deputy speaker and Batangas’ sixth district representative Vilma Santos-Recto also announced that she will file a bill for the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise in Congress. According to Sotto, he is still in the process of getting a consensus with leaders in Congress regarding the measure.
“ABS-CBN’s wide reach to Filipinos, alongside with the undeniable advantages of broadcast media relative to mass communication, definitely calls for the immediate renewal of the network’s franchise,” wrote the senator.
The lawmakers’ bills come eight months after ABS-CBN shut its operations down as per the National Telecommunications Commission’s order on May 5, 2020. The House of Representatives’ committee on legislative franchises also voted against granting the network a 25-year franchise in July 2020.
Since then, the network has shifted to digital platforms and utilized the newly-rebranded A2Z channel 11 to air some of its entertainment shows and movies. Still, its employees were heavily affected by the closure which caused some to be retrenched around August 2020.