MANILA - Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday the shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp's broadcast operations would not "immediately impact" employment as a cease and desist order does not extinguish corporate existence.

There are available remedies and that employees "shall continue to be employed" and are entitled to labor standards, Bello in a statement. ABS-CBN group has approximately 11,000 employees.

"The issuance of the cease and desist order does not have immediate impact on the employment of its employees. It does not automatically extinguish the corporate existence of any company," Bello said.

"Paramount is the protection of the rights and the promotion of the welfare of all workers, particularly those of ABS-CBN," he said.

The National Telecommunications Commission on Tuesday ordered ABS-CBN to stop broadcasting on its TV and radio channels after the network's franchise expired on May 4. ABS-CBN went off air late Tuesday in compliance to the order.

• Which ABS-CBN businesses can still operate after NTC's cease and desist order?
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Bello said he trusted that the issue would be resolved with applicable rules and regulations.

The NTC order covers 42 ABS-CBN television stations, including the flagship Channel 2, 10 digital broadcast channels, 18 FM stations and 5 AM stations, including DZMM radio.

• READ: Statement on the cease and desist order issued by the NTC to ABS-CBN