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Palace claims neutrality as Congress fulfills Duterte threat against ABS-CBN franchise

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Arianne Merez, 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/04/14/20200406-duterte-covid-address-mnib-6.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte. Presidential Photo/file</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- Malacañang said Friday it has maintained a &quot;neutral&quot; stance on the franchise application of ABS-CBN after lawmakers denied to grant the media giant a fresh 25-year license to operate in what is seen as a fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s earlier promise.Voting 70 to 11, the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises voted Friday to reject a new broadcast franchise for ABS-CBN Corp which has ceased broadcast operations for more than 2 months.Congress, which is dominated by the President&#x27;s allies, has the &quot;sole prerogative&quot; on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.&quot;The Palace has maintained a neutral stance on the issue as it respects the separation of powers between the two co-equal branches government,&quot; Roque said in a statement. &quot;Much as we want to work with the aforesaid media network, we have to abide by the resolution of the House committee,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/10/20/house-committee-denies-abs-cbn-a-new-franchise">House committee denies ABS-CBN a new franchise</a></li></ul>Duterte&#x27;s chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo meanwhile said the executive does not intrude in the affairs of another branch of government. &quot;We respect decision of Congress. The Executive doesn’t intrude on the affairs of an equal branch,&quot; Panelo said.&quot;Both sides of the issues have been heard. We leave it to the collective wisdom of the committee apropos its denial of the renewal of franchise,&quot; he said.President Duterte has repeatedly threatened ABS-CBN&#x27;s push for a new franchise over issues on political advertisements for the 2016 national elections.On Dec. 3, 2019, Duterte told ABS-CBN that “I will see to it that you are out.” He even said that it was better for the owners of ABS-CBN to just sell the network.In February, however, the President took a softer stance on ABS-CBN and accepted the apology of the company&#x27;s President and CEO Carlo Katigbak but clarified that the fate of the company&#x27;s franchise lies in the hands of Congress.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/26/20/duterte-accepts-abs-cbn-apology-over-2016-pol-ad">Duterte accepts ABS-CBN apology over 2016 pol ad</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/04/20/timeline-will-abs-cbn-get-a-new-broadcast-franchise">TIMELINE: Will ABS-CBN get a new broadcast franchise?</a></li></ul>Regulators forced the network off air on May 5, a day after its franchise expired. This is despite an earlier assurance by the National Telecommunications Office that it would let ABS-CBN operate provisionally while lawmakers had yet to finish tackling its franchise. ABS-CBN has denied any wrongdoing, saying the network has never violated laws in its 65-year service.<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com">news.abs-cbn.com</a> is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</div>

Malacañang said Friday it has maintained a "neutral" stance on the franchise application of ABS-CBN after lawmakers denied to grant the media giant a fresh 25-year license to operate in what is seen as a fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte's earlier promise.

Malacañang said Friday it has maintained a "neutral" stance on the franchise application of ABS-CBN after lawmakers denied to grant the media giant a fresh 25-year license to operate in what is seen as a fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte's earlier promise.

Palace claims neutrality as Congress fulfills Duterte threat against ABS-CBN franchise

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Palace claims neutrality as Congress fulfills Duterte threat against ABS-CBN franchise

Arianne Merez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 10, 2020 05:03 PM PHT

|

Updated Jul 10, 2020 05:55 PM PHT

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Rodrigo Duterte

Malacañang

ABS-CBN franchise

ABS-CBN Corp

ABS-CBN

Duterte ABS-CBN

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