News Roundup 06 May 2020
May 06, 2020 • 3 min Read
ABS-CBN shutdown on Cayetano — Lagman, Atienza | PHILSTAR.COM – The shutdown of ABS-CBN on Tuesday is on House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano whose leadership sat on franchise renewal bills of the network at the Congress, Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay, 1st District) said. In an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, Lagman said that he does not believe that his colleagues should be blamed. “I think it’s the leadership that should take responsibility for what happened.” Rep. Lito Atienza, in a separate interview with ANC, also pinned the blame to Cayetano. “He will have a lot to explain in one day. It may not be today but later on this issue would hound him because he is the one who did not do his job,” he said. ABS-CBN stopped broadcasting Tuesday night, hours after it received a cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission after its franchise expired. But this could have been averted, Lagman said, as he pointed out “there was seasonable re-enactment of the franchise.”
Dominguez sees P1 trillion deficit as expenses for COVID-19 pile up | INQUIRER.NET – As spending for COVID-19 response pile up while revenue collection slows down during the pandemic, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on Wednesday (May 6) said that 2020’s budget deficit could balloon to “around P1 trillion.” Dominguez told a press conference that the additional funding for COVID-19 response would come from more loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Talks with these lenders were “making good progress,” said Dominguez.
Angara: SolGen Calida should have refrained from giving out legal advice to NTC | Manila Bulletin – Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Wednesday expressed his belief that Solicitor General Jose Calida should have refrained from giving out legal advice to officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) which eventually led the agency to issue a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN Corporation. Echoing Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon’s position on the matter, Angara said the granting of provisional authority has been allowed in the past, especially when the measure seeking the renewal of a franchise is still pending in Congress. Angara noted that even the NTC had agreed with the position of Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who expressed confidence there is no legal obstacle in the granting of a provisional authority to ABS-CBN Corp.
ABS-CBN shutdown costs lives, jobs — Robredo | The Manila Times – Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo lamented the closure of television network ABS-CBN, its importance in disseminating information amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Robredo released a statement in reaction to the cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission that effectively shut down its operations on Tuesday. Robredo said that in these times of crisis, the public relies on the free flow of reliable and relevant information to identify and locate those in need to determine the right course of action. “This free flow of information literally saves lives. Closing down ABS-CBN costs lives, on top of unnecessarily burdening the thousands who will lose their jobs,” she said. Robredo stressed that in these critical times, there should be no room for harassment and pursuit of personal interests and that cooperation must instead be pushed forward.
