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ABS-CBN franchise bills not urgent? House used to multitasking, solon says

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MANILA - Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman on Saturday said lawmakers are used to multi-tasking as he cited House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano&#x27;s &quot;foot-dragging&quot; on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corp, which is set to expire in March. The House of Representatives, he said, &quot;could legislate on several measures within a short timeframe or almost simultaneously,&quot; as he countered Cayetano&#x27;s statements Friday that the network&#x27;s franchise renewal is &quot;not that urgent.&quot; &quot;Moreover, the committee on legislative franchises is not overwhelmed with the pendency of major bills, which are more greatly important than the 11 proposals to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise,&quot; Lagman said in a statement.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/14/20/speaker-cayetano-abs-cbn-franchise-bills-not-that-urgent">Speaker Cayetano: ABS-CBN franchise bills &#x27;not that urgent&#x27;</a></li></ul>Cayetano earlier questioned the urgency of holding congressional hearings on the network&#x27;s franchise bid, saying ABS-CBN could still operate until the 18th Congress ends in 2022.&quot;Hindi [ito] ganoon ka-urgent. Bakit? Kasi hanggang March 2022, pwedeng mag-operate,&quot; he said.(This is not that urgent. Why? Because ABS-CBN can operate until March 2022.)In his statement, Lagman said the media giant is being given an &quot;illusory remedy&quot; of a provisional authority from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to continue broadcast operations past the expiration of its franchise.&quot;ABS-CBN is being given an illusory alternative remedy instead of being granted a justified renewal of its franchise,&quot; he said.&quot;The renewal of a franchise is the legal, proper and traditional course of action under the sole jurisdiction of the Congress,&quot; he added.The NTC, Lagman said, could be influenced by President Rodrigo Duterte who is determined to block the network&#x27;s franchise renewal.&quot;If the House of Representatives, which is an independent branch of government, kowtows to the repeated pronouncements of the President that he is against the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, with more reason that the NTC, an agency under the Executive Department headed by the President himself, would go against the wishes of President Duterte by issuing a provisional authority,&quot; he said.Some 11 bills seeking an extension of ABS-CBN&#x27;s franchise were filed before the lower chamber.<div>&#x27;IMPARTIAL JOB&#x27;</div>Meanwhile, Cayetano, in a statement issued on Saturday, reiterated the House would do an &quot;impartial job&quot; in taking up measures seeking to renew the network&#x27;s franchise.&quot;So, what I request is we join the issues. All those opposed to renewing the franchise, submit your comments to the House committee on legislative franchises, which will forward these to ABS-CBN so they can already respond. That’s the way our democracy works,&quot; he said.On the move of the Office of the Solicitor General to shut down ABS-CBN through a quo warranto petition, Cayetano said he&#x27;d &quot;rather the SolGen did not file.&quot;&quot;But on the other hand, at least, people are now talking about the issues. As for me, I am open-minded. I have read the reply of ABS-CBN to the SolGen and I am waiting for their official comment,” he said.The franchise woes that ABS-CBN is facing, Cayetano added, should not be equated with press freedom.&quot;This is not an open-close case of press freedom. It’s also accountability to our present laws, especially election laws. Personally, that’s what I want to hear when the hearings are held, what reforms ABS-CBN will undertake to address their perceived bias and alleged violations of their franchise,&quot; he said.For several days, ABS-CBN had received an outpouring of support from different sectors, saying the government&#x27;s move is an assault to press freedom and threatens the livelihood of thousands of employees.ABS-CBN operates free TV Channel 2 and radio DZMM. <div>news.abs-cbn.com is the general news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</div>

MANILA - Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman on Saturday said lawmakers are used to multi-tasking as he cited House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's "foot-dragging" on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corp, which is set to expire in March.

MANILA - Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman on Saturday said lawmakers are used to multi-tasking as he cited House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's "foot-dragging" on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corp, which is set to expire in March.