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Gabby Lopez is a Filipino citizen, says solon who used to be Immigration chief

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/02/24/20180419-abs-cbn-stockholders-7622.jpg"/><figcaption>A lawmaker asserted that ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus Eugenio &quot;Gabby&quot; Lopez III is a Filipino citizen amid claims his previous leadership of the company and ownership of company shares violated the terms of the network’s franchise.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - A Philippine lawmaker who once headed the country&#x27;s immigration bureau said Thursday that Eugenio &quot;Gabby&quot; Lopez III is a Filipino citizen.Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who was Immigration Commissioner from 1998 to 2001 and a former College of Law dean, issued the statement amid allegations that the ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus&#x27; previous leadership of the company and ownership of company shares violated the terms of the network’s franchise and the constitutional provision against foreign ownership in mass media.The citizenship issue against Lopez was raised again last Tuesday at the House of Representatives by sectors opposed to the granting of a new 25-year franchise to ABS-CBN. The House committees on legislative franchises and good government has started substantial deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise bills.Rodriguez said Lopez “is a Filipino citizen from the beginning&quot; and ABS-CBN did not violate the constitutional mandate that any mass media company should be “100-percent owned by Filipinos.”“Since he was born in the United States in 1952, he was, under US law, an American citizen by virtue of his birth on American soil. He was also a Filipino, since his parents were both Filipinos,” Rodriguez explained.Lopez was born in 1952 to Filipino parents, Eugenio Jr. and Conchita (nee La O’). Under the 1935 Philippine Constitution which was in effect at the time, he is automatically a Filipino citizen.“The fact is that, when he was born, both his parents were Filipinos. So he was automatically a Filipino by birth under the 1935 Constitution, which was the Charter applicable then,” Rodriguez said.&quot;Because Lopez was and still is a Filipino, unless he had renounced such citizenship and chose to be an American, he or his network did not violate&quot; the constitutional provision on on 100-percent Filipino ownership of media, the lawmaker added.ABS-CBN had earlier said that Lopez was a dual citizen long before the Philippines enacted a dual citizenship law. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/20/abs-cbn-reiterates-gabby-lopez-is-a-filipino-citizen">ABS-CBN reiterates: Gabby Lopez is a Filipino citizen</a></li></ul>Rodriguez also refuted his fellow lawmaker, SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who, aside from questioning Lopez&#x27; citizenship, also raised a supposed 50-year limit to ABS-CBN&#x27;s franchiseDuring Tuesday&#x27;s hearing, Marcoleta said the network should no longer be given a new franchise since it has operated for more than 50 years, supposedly beyond the limit set by the Constitution.Rodriguez said that the 50-year cap applies to each franchise the Congress grants to an entity, like ABS-CBN.“The Constitution is very clear. The Constitution says that every franchise that will be issued shall not be more than 50 years. 50 years is not cumulative,&quot; he said.&quot;Our practice is we grant for only 25 years. But we can fix it at 50 years, 40 years, or one year, as long as it does not exceed 50 years.”Atty. Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, had earlier said Marcoleta &quot;not only did cite the wrong provision, but also had a wrong interpretation of the wrong provision.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/27/20/wrong-provision-wrong-interpretation-1987-consti-framer-to-solon-who-raised-50-year-limit-to-abs-cbn-franchise">Wrong provision, wrong interpretation: 1987 Consti framer to solon who raised 50-year limit to ABS-CBN franchise</a></li></ul><div>--With a report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News</div>

ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III is a Filipino citizen, a lawmaker asserted Friday, amid claims his previous leadership of the company and ownership of company shares violated the terms of the network’s franchise.

ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III is a Filipino citizen, a lawmaker asserted Friday, amid claims his previous leadership of the company and ownership of company shares violated the terms of the network’s franchise.