On Valentine's Day, hundreds rally for ABS-CBN amid franchise woes

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/tvpatrol/02/12/20200214-abs-cbn-protest-gc-54.jpg"/><figcaption>People gather in front of ABS-CBN in Quezon City to show support for the network. The network is facing a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court invalidating its current franchise filed by the Solicitor General. Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - Hundreds of people gathered on Sgt. Esguerra Ave., Quezon City on Valentine&#x27;s Day to show their support for the franchise renewal bid of ABS-CBN Corp., the country&#x27;s largest broadcast network.Clad in red shirts, ABS-CBN employees, supporters, and representatives of several groups held placards saying &quot;No To ABS-CBN Shutdown,&quot; &quot;Save ABS-CBN Workers,&quot; and &quot;Defend Press Freedom.&quot;ABS-CBN&#x27;s franchise is expiring on March 30, 2020 and Congress has yet to tackle nearly a dozen bills seeking to grant the company a fresh 25-year broadcast franchise.Danilo Arao, journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, said the administration&#x27;s move to shut down the broadcast giant would send a chilling message to other media outfits to play by its rules.&quot;If we allow this to happen, it&#x27;s ABS-CBN today, tomorrow will be the other networks,&quot; he said.Solicitor General Jose Calida filed last Monday a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court seeking to invalidate ABS-CBN&#x27;s franchise that was approved in 1995.Responding to the allegations, ABS-CBN said it &quot;did not violate&quot; any law and continues to stay true to its mandate of being &quot;in the service of the Filipino.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/10/20/read-statement-of-abs-cbn-on-osgs-quo-warranto-petition-we-did-not-violate-the-law">READ: Statement of ABS-CBN on OSG&#x27;s Quo Warranto petition: We did not violate the law</a></li></ul>For National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) deputy secretary-general Raymund Villanueva, a denial of the network&#x27;s franchise could also jeopardize ABS-CBN&#x27;s public service programs.&quot;We are calling on our lawmakers to grant ABS-CBN a fresh franchise because many Filipinos rely on the network for news, entertainment, and public service,&quot; he said in Filipino.The media giant has received support from various sectors, including ordinary citizens, senators, celebrities, press organizations, journalism educators, and international groups which denounced the administration&#x27;s moves.The President has repeatedly said he would block the network&#x27;s franchise renewal after the company allegedly refused to a political advertisement in the 2016 presidential campaign. Last December, he also urged ABS-CBN&#x27;s owners to &quot;<a href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/248223-duterte-abs-cbn-sell-network-than-renew-franchise">just sell</a>&quot; the network.<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com">news.abs-cbn.com</a> is the general news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</div>

Clad in red shirts, ABS-CBN employees, supporters, and representatives of several groups held placards saying "No To ABS-CBN Shutdown," "Save ABS-CBN Workers," and "Defend Press Freedom."

Clad in red shirts, ABS-CBN employees, supporters, and representatives of several groups held placards saying "No To ABS-CBN Shutdown," "Save ABS-CBN Workers," and "Defend Press Freedom."