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Jose Mari Chan shares Christmas wish: ‘A change of heart among congressmen who denied ABS-CBN a franchise’

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<p>Filipino Christmas icon Jose Mari Chan shared that one of his wishes this season is for the congressmen who voted against the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise to have a change of heart.</p><p>“I would like to see a change of hearts for the better, especially those congressmen that voted against the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN. Meaning, for them to realize that what they did was much more than what President (Rodrigo) Duterte was asking for,” the singer said in an interview in the program titled <em>HaPinay</em> on TeleRadyo. </p><p>It can be recalled that the House committee denied ABS-CBN a new franchise last July, which shut down the broadcast operations of the media giant. </p><p>The singer added that he hopes that he would see a change of heart especially among these three government officials who have expressed so much hatred against the network. </p><p>“I’d like to see a change of heart in Marcoleta (Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta), Defensor (Anakalusugan Party-List Rep. Mike Defensor), because they were the ones who seemed to be very angry against our network,” the singer stated.</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="488" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JCJtSmz7Z_U" width="1349"></iframe></div><p>Jose Mari shared that he is a stakeholder of ABS-CBN and it saddens him that because of hatred, many Filipino employees lost their jobs. </p><p>“I speak like that because I am a Kapamilya, I am a stockholder of ABS-CBN. So I was very disheartened, and I was very sad that the hatred of people can destroy the jobs of thousands of people,” he said. </p><p>ABS-CBN had to lay off thousands of its employees following the non-renewal of its franchise. </p><p>&quot;We are doing all we can to mitigate the pain that will be felt by those affected, including paying out separation and retirement benefits and providing job placement programs,&quot; ABS-CBN said in a statement last July. </p><div><a href="https://push.abs-cbn.com/2020/9/11/fresh-scoops/watch-jose-mari-chan-scarlet-snow-belo-in-adorab-231496"><strong><u>WATCH: Jose Mari Chan, Scarlet Snow Belo in adorable ‘Christmas in Our Hearts’ duet</u></strong></a></div><p>&quot;As much as it hurts us to implement this retrenchment program, this is the only way to ensure the continued employment of the rest of our Kapamilya. For those who are affected, we pray for you and your families, that you may have the strength and guidance to deal with the challenges ahead.  For all that you have done for ABS-CBN, maraming salamat po,&quot; the statement added. </p><p>The retrenchment took effect on August 31. </p>