In a time of unprecedented crisis as this one, we need all the help there is rather than tear each other down. The act of the National Telecommunications Office (NTC) to order the closing down of ABC-CBN is very unbecoming at best and traitorous to the people at worst. ABC-CBN is helping a lot of Filipinos in the country and abroad in updating the people about the corona virus, in entertaining the people in the time of lock down, and in uplifting the spirits of many through its broadcasts.
It is known to many that the case of ABS CBN is politically motivated, no matter what justification is forwarded by the government. No institution is free of any shortcoming, legally speaking. If people are looking for faults, they can always be found in this highly complicated world. But are the faults of ABS-CBN such that it would merit its shutting down? Besides, it is itself the fault of congress in not acting fast enough on the application for the renewal of its franchise. They have been reminded of this matter for a long time but they dilly-dally, using its power to give a franchise as a bait to tame the network.
The NTC should not just close the network based on technicalities because it is also within its mandate to allow the network to operate according to the advice of the Department of Justice, the House of Representatives and the Senate until the bill extending its franchise is acted upon. But is NTC acting on behalf of promoting communication, or is it just a tool of the administration to further its agenda?
Will NTC add 11,000 workers to the swelling unemployment that the country is now experiencing? This action of the NTC – and this present administration as a whole – does not have the good of the Filipinos at heart. It is a brazen exercise of power to show who is in charge, using the law and its technicalities as a tool of control. In doing so, freedom of information in this country is threatened. It sends the chilling message that news and information outlets should kowtow to those in power or else they will be brought down, just as ABC-CBN. But we do not allow this to happen. We the citizens know what is the motive of this action. We are not defending ABS-CBN. We are defending press freedom. We are defending freedom because the grip of power is getting tighter around us. Nasasakal na kami! The specter of Martial Law is coming up! This action of the government is not uniting the people. In fact it is using the pandemic as a cover for its dastardly deed.
Broderick Pabillo
May 6, 2020
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