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NUJP, think tank concerned over granting of former ABS-CBN frequencies to others

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<h3>Think tank: Granting ex-ABS-CBN frequencies to others &#x27;almost midnight deal&#x27; </h3><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATE) </strong>- The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Wednesday said it is &quot;concerned&quot; about the granting of frequencies last held by ABS-CBN to other companies, which, according to a think tank, appears to be an &quot;almost midnight deal.&quot; </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/25/22/villar-firm-granted-use-of-former-abs-cbn-channels">READ: Villar company bags 2 broadcast channels previously held by ABS-CBN</a></li></ul><p>While the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) gave a legal and &quot;procedural explanation&quot; for the move, it was done days before the election period, Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon said.</p><p>Under subsection 6.4 of Republic Act No. 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, &quot;No franchise or permit to operate a radio or television station shall be granted or issued, suspended or cancelled during the election period.&quot; </p><p>The NTC orders assigning frequencies used by ABS-CBN were dated Jan. 5 and 6, a few days before this year&#x27;s election period opened on Jan. 9.</p><p>&quot;Kaya almost midnight deal. Kasi yan yung (that is the) midnight deal,&quot; Ridon told ABS-CBN News in an email. </p><p>&quot;They can try to legally justify it all they want, but the public will surely have none of it, especially with one of the Villars running now for public office,&quot; he added. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/slideshow/07/09/21/abs-cbn-franchise-rejection-timeline">TIMELINE: The vote that killed ABS-CBN&#x27;s franchise renewal bid</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/abs-cbn-franchise-house-rejection">DEATH OF A FRANCHISE</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1907453" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>The NTC on Tuesday confirmed that Advanced Media Broadcasting System Inc., a company owned by business tycoon and former Sen. Manny Villar, has taken over Channels 2 and 16.</p><p>Pastor Apollo Quiboloy&#x27;s Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), meanwhile, was able to get Channel 43, which used to be assigned to Amcara Broadcasting Corp. but ABS-CBN used for the latter&#x27;s TVPlus channels under a blocktime agreement.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/26/22/quiboloy-awarded-channel-43-previously-used-by-abs-cbn">READ: Quiboloy gets Channel 43 broadcast frequency used by ABS-CBN</a></li></ul><p>The NTC also granted Aliw Broadcasting Corporation a provisional authority to use Channel 23.</p><p>ABS-CBN was denied in July 2020 a new franchise by a House of Representatives panel despite being cleared by regulatory agencies. As a result, it shut down its free TV and radio operations and retrenched thousands of its employees in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>President Rodrigo Duterte said many times in public speeches that he would see to it that ABS-CBN, which he believes offended him through the non-airing of some of his pre-paid political ads as well as the airing of a critical ad in the 2016 presidential campaign, halts operations.</p><p>A member of the Villar family, Mark, was head of the Department of Public Works and Highways before resigning last year to run for a Senate seat in this year&#x27;s elections.</p><p>Her sister, Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar, voted in 2020 against granting ABS-CBN a new franchise.</p><p>Quiboloy, meanwhile, is Duterte&#x27;s spiritual adviser. </p><p>&quot;Parceling these frequencies leaves a bad taste in the mouth given that the Duterte administration is already in its final months, and it sure looks like an almost midnight deal with these media entities,&quot; Ridon said in a statement.<br/> <br/>The NUJP said the developments have &quot;dire implications on the people&#x27;s right to relevant information&quot; as the pandemic lingered. </p><p>&quot;These networks are perceived to be friendly to government and to one presidential aspirant. We are concerned at the concentration of power in a corporate media landscape already dominated by conglomerates and political clans,&quot; the group said in a statement. </p><div><strong>TRANSPARENCY</strong></div><p>The NUJP noted a supposed lack of transparency on how the firms were able to get the frequencies. The Department of Justice approved the move after its opinion was sought. </p><p>A justice undersecretary, Emmeline Aglipay, is the wife of former DPWH Sec. Mark Villar.</p><p>&quot;As regulatory processes can be used against perceived critics, they can also be used to favor allies like the powerful Villar family, which has a member in the legislative branch and, until last year, one in the president&#x27;s Cabinet,&quot; according to the NUJP. </p><p>Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had said the move was not premeditated.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/25/22/guevarra-doj-issued-opinion-on-ntcs-authority-on-unused-frequencies">READ: Guevarra confirms DOJ issued opinion on NTC’s authority to allocate unused, available frequencies</a></li></ul><p>Guevarra emphasized that the discussion was all about legal issues of the NTC to allocate the frequencies. </p><p>&quot;There was no reference to or mention whatsoever of any private parties or private interests, nor was the opinion rendered within a specific factual context,” he said.</p><p>Noting the explanation made by the NTC in awarding the frequencies, Ridon said that &quot;what is legally and procedurally sound is not necessarily correct nor acceptable to the public.&quot;</p><p>He expressed worries that &quot;investor confidence will be dampened with this development&quot;, saying &quot;it diminishes the investment objectives of the amendments to the Public Service Act&quot; as the NTC decision &quot;shows serious political risk on future investments in the Philippines.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The way forward now is for the media entities to step back from the award and wait for a new government to provide fresh mandates on the ABS-CBN question,&quot; said Ridon.</p><p>&quot;This is most pressing on AMBS, which is owned by the Villar family, as they have a family member running for the Senate and who also served in the Duterte cabinet as public works chief,&quot; he added.</p><p>Ridon said &quot;it might be better&quot; for the Villars to &quot;just waive the award until the next administration.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The public would like to see whether the Villars will recuse themselves from this award, as this is a question that will always be raised to Mark Villar during the senatorial campaign,&quot; he said.</p><p>The NTC said in a press statement Tuesday that AMBS was granted the provisional authority &quot;after the determination of its legal, technical and financial qualification.&quot;</p><p>It also sought policy guidance from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, a legal opinion from the DOJ, and the concurrence of the Office of Executive Secretary at the Office of the President, it said.</p><p>The NUJP said that while new networks could mean new jobs, &quot;we hope that the assignment of its former frequencies will not be another hindrance to getting ABS-CBN back on air and laid-off colleagues back at their jobs.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We hope as well that the entry of new TV networks will mean more sources of information and reliable news instead of content catered to serve its owners&#x27; political and business interests,&quot; it added.</p><p>The Villar group has yet to respond to requests for comment, while Aliw Broadcasting Corp. has no statement on the developments.</p><div><em>news.abs-cbn.com is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</em></div><div><strong>WATCH</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1724469" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The NUJP said it is 'concerned' about the granting of frequencies last held by ABS-CBN to other companies, which, according to a think tank, appears to be an 'almost midnight deal.'

NUJP, think tank concerned over granting of former ABS-CBN frequencies to others

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NUJP, think tank concerned over granting of former ABS-CBN frequencies to others

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 26, 2022 04:09 PM PHT

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Updated Jan 26, 2022 10:34 PM PHT

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ABS-CBN franchise

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ABSCBN shutdown

fair elections act

terry ridon

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freedom of speech

National Telecommunications Commission

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