MANILA — Partido Lakas ng Masa candidate Leody De Guzman said Wednesday he will go after big businesses if he is elected as President in May, but assured he will not follow in the footsteps of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Speaking to PolitikSkoop, the labor leader said Duterte went against oligarchs but only to introduce other oligarchs.

"'Di ko gagayahin 'yan. Titirahin isang business gaya ng ginawa sa ABS-CBN, 'yun pala ipapasok si Villar," said De Guzman.

(I will not copy his style of attacking one business, as he did with ABS-CBN, only to accommodate the Villars.)

In July 2020, a House of Representatives panel denied ABS-CBN's application for a new franchise despite being cleared by regulatory agencies. Duterte has said many times that he would see to it that ABS-CBN, which 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.

As a result, ABS-CBN shut down its free TV and radio operations while thousands of its employees lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This month, broadcast frequencies previously used by ABS-CBN were awarded by the National Telecommunications Commission to former Sen. Manny Villar's Advanced Media Broadcasting System Inc., Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's Sonshine Media Network International, and Aliw Broadcasting Corp.

• Villar company bags 2 broadcast channels previously held by ABS-CBN
• Quiboloy gets Channel 43 broadcast frequency used by ABS-CBN

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Meanwhile, De Guzman also said he would push for the passage of divorce and same sex unions in the country if he wins.

He said he may have differences with the Church on said issues, but maintained he could work with the institution noting they are both pro-people.

But he said the Church should not meddle with the government.

In case he loses the presidential race, De Guzman said he would not accept any Cabinet position if offered one, saying his views may run against the winning candidate.

"Kokontra ako sa mga patakaran nila at malamang, tatanggalin lang din ako," he said.

He earlier said all other candidates were favoring big businesses instead of workers.

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