MANILA - Several groups condemned politicians accused of being responsible for the free TV closure of ABS-CBN as they commemorated the second year of its absence from the airwaves.

The National Alliance of Broadcast Union (NABU), the Kapamilya Workers Partylist, and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) denounced the 70 congressmen behind the "killing" of the ABS-CBN’s broadcast franchise.

“Hindi natin pwedeng sabihin na walang epekto ang pagkawala nito sa media landscape, sa access sa impormasyon,” NUJP chairperson Jonathan De Santos said in a press conference Thursday.

Aside from curtailing freedom of the press, ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal denial is also about denial to job security and access to information, media workers said.

“Hindi lang ito tungkol lang sa ABS-CBN. Tungkol ito sa karapatan na makapahayag ng malaya, katotohanan at makatarungan. Tungkol ito sa karapatang makapaghanapbuhay ng maayos at disente. Tungkol ito sa milyon-milyong Pilipino na tinanggalan ng impormasyon sa tuwing may bagyo, at iba pang kalamidad o sakuna. Tungkol ito sa napakaraming Pilipino na.. hindi nahahatiran ng tulong ng gobyerno,” NABU President and ABS-CBN Employees Union President Jon Villanueva said.

“Yung mga manggagawa sa industriya, malinaw sa amin ang kahalagahan ng kalayaan sa pamamahayag o press freedom. Ito ay mahalagang aspeto ng tunay na demokratikong lipunan. Dahil sa press freedom, malaya ang mamamayan na palaganapin ang katotohan,” NABU Vice President and IBC-13 Employees Union President Alberto Liboon said.

The groups called on the public to junk the election bids of the 70 congressmen who voted for the denial of the ABS-CBN franchise, including Anakalusugan partylist Rep. Mike Defensor, who is running for Quezon City mayor in the May elections.

“Sisingilin natin si Mike Defensor na berdugo ng mga manggagawa ng ABS-CBN kasama ang 70 congressmen na nag-deny sa prangkisa ng ABS-CBN. Nananawagan kami sa aming mga kapamilya, huwag nating iboto ang kandidato na umapi sa kapwa naming manggagawa. Itakbo natin si Mike Defensor sa basura, ang mga kapwa nya trapo kasama 70 congressman na nagdeny sa ABS-CBN sa kanyang prangkisa, dahil trapo sila. Sa basura sila,” said Jerry Gracio, Kapamilya Partylist 1st nominee and former ABS-CBN employee.

“Franchise killers, wag iboto!” they chanted.

NABU and the Kapamilya Partylist expressed their support for reelectionist Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

“Dahil dito, buo ang suporta ng NABU kay Mayor Joy Belmonte para sa kanyang re-election bilang Mayor ng Quezon City,” NABU said in a press statement.

NABU is composed of members working in the broadcast industry, including those working in ABS-CBN, GMA-7, TV5, PTV4, Radio Veritas, and IBC-13.

NUJP, meanwhile. said it “chooses to remember” the shutdown.

“We choose to remember the manner with which a privilege few made decisions that cost our colleagues their lives and deprived millions of our fellow Filipinos with one less source of reliable information in a world already under siege from disinformation and misinformation. We choose to remember as well colleagues who lost their jobs or who were forced to leave media altogether because of the shutdown,” it said in a statement.