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'Shades of martial law': PH universities blast ABS-CBN shutdown

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATE) - Philippine universities on Wednesday stood with ABS-CBN after it was forced to go off air in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the orders of the National Telecommunications Commission due to an expired franchise.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/20/ntc-orders-abs-cbn-to-stop-broadcasting">NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop broadcasting</a></li></ul>The Ateneo de Manila University said the decision of the telecoms body &quot;deprives the Filipino people of a vital source of information, entertainment and public service.&quot;&quot;Filipinos need ABS-CBN now, especially now during these urgent times of the pandemic, when information provided by our country&#x27;s broadcast journalists spells the difference between life and death for our citizens, most of whom still get their news from television and radio,&quot; ADMU president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin said in a statement.The Ateneo said the network&#x27;s forced shutdown shows &quot;shades of martial law&quot; under late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, &quot;when the airwaves went silent as the dictatorship sought to quell the free exchange of news, information and commentary.&quot;&quot;ABS-CBN&#x27;s closure extinguishes the brightest light in our information firmament and leaves the smaller ones in darkness and peril,&quot; it said.&quot;We urge our lawmakers to act post-haste to approve the ABS-CBN franchise and restore its broadcast.&quot;The University of Santo Tomas (UST) said the NTC&#x27;s order to stop ABS-CBN from broadcasting was &quot;a clear disservice to the Filipino people in this time of the pandemic, when information, delivered fast and wide, is key to saving lives.&quot;UST noted the company&#x27;s public service projects, which it said have &quot;significantly contributed to the improvement of the lives of many Filipinos.&quot;Journalism professors from UST, meanwhile, said the network&#x27;s closure was President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s &quot;Pearl Harbor attack&quot; in his war on the free press.Shutting down the press is the work of dictators, the group said, as it urged the public to &quot;speak out and resist all attacks on the media, and hold the malevolent forces behind this treachery to account.&quot;&quot;Now that ABS-CBN is out of the airwaves, and for the second time since martial law, there is no more denying that the Duterte regime will stop at nothing — even amid a national emergency and a crippling lockdown — to crush dissent and stifle a free and independent media,&quot; the group said.&quot;The process of granting broadcast franchises should be depoliticized and delegated to an independent regulatory agency, as it touches upon the constitutionally guaranteed exercise of free press and free expression.&quot;Far Eastern University&#x27;s Department of Communication said it believes that the NTC&#x27;s move to shut down ABS-CBN curtails freedom of the press and threatens the livelihood of its 11,000 workers.&quot;In the face of a public health crisis, the unemployment of the network’s employees aggravates their economic and health situations as well as those of their families. They need a government that understands their plight,&quot; it said.&quot;Advocating the mantra, &#x27;May alam, May pakialam&#x27;, the department urges the ABS-CBN management, media workers, and the public to resist all forms of oppression by seeking and supporting lawful actions to resolve the issues.&quot;The De La Salle University on Tuesday night lit up the facade of its Manila campus in the network&#x27;s colors of red, green and blue as a show of support for the country&#x27;s largest broadcast company.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/20/in-red-green-blue-de-la-salle-university-shows-support-to-abs-cbn">In red, green, blue: De La Salle University shows support to ABS-CBN</a></li></ul>

Philippine universities on Wednesday stood with ABS-CBN after it was forced to go off the air during the COVID-19 pandemic by the National Telecommunications Commission due to an expired franchise.

Philippine universities on Wednesday stood with ABS-CBN after it was forced to go off the air during the COVID-19 pandemic by the National Telecommunications Commission due to an expired franchise.