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'Makakapag-aral pa ba kami?': Families of ABS-CBN workers suffer from franchise denial

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Gillan Ropero, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/20A7m3OLABI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>MANILA - The families of some 11,000 ABS-CBN workers are also affected following lawmakers&#x27; decision to deny the network a fresh franchise, officials of the company&#x27;s employees unions said Sunday.<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>Raul de Asis, president of the ABS-CBN Supervisory Employees Union, said he was willing take any jobs to sustain his family&#x27;s needs.&quot;Yung mga bata mismo na nakakapanood sila sa TV, ang tanong nila sa akin, &#x27;Daddy makakapag-aral pa ba kami?&#x27; Yun po yung pinakamasakit doon...,&#x27;&quot; he told ABS-CBN&#x27;s TeleRadyo.(The children who watched it on TV asked me, &#x27;Daddy, will we still be able to go to school?&#x27; That&#x27;s very painful...)&quot;Masakit pero kailangan tanggapin dahil yun ang realidad.&quot;(It&#x27;s hard but we should accept it because it&#x27;s the reality.)Workers of the country&#x27;s largest broadcasting firm will continue to look for possible solutions and support its management, said de Asis and Jon Villanueva, president of ABS-CBN&#x27;s Rank and File Employees Union.&quot;Di po pakahulugan na end of fight na. Ang gusto kong maging mensahe sa lahat ng mangggawa ng ABS-CBN, kami po ay patuloy na mananawagan at kikilos para makuha ng ABS-CBN kung anuman yung kailangan nating makuha. Patuloy po kaming kikilos,&quot; Villanueva said.(It doesn&#x27;t mean it&#x27;s the end of the fight. What I want to tell all workers of ABS-CBN, we will continue to call for and move to achieve what ABS-CBN needs. We will continue to fight.)Villanueva lamented that a lawmaker who represents the labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines reportedly voted against the network&#x27;s franchise bid.&quot;&quot;Yung TUCP na si Cong. Raymond Mendoza na nagtataguyod ng welfare ng manggawa, bumoto para kitilin yung hanapbuhay ng manggagawa,&quot; he said.(Cong. Raymond Mendoza from TUCP, which stands for workers&#x27; welfare, voted to kill the livelihood of ABS-CBN workers.)The House of Representatives has yet to release an official list of the 70 congressmen who voted to deny ABS-CBN&#x27;s application for a new franchise.During Friday&#x27;s proceeding, only 11 lawmakers, as announced by the Committee on Legislative Franchises, were in favor to grant the media network a fresh franchise.De Asis said some union members could not accept the decision.&quot;Nahihirapan sila, hanggang sa ngayon, kahit yung mga miyembro natin sa Mindanao, Cebu, ibang part ng Luzon,&quot; he said.(It&#x27;s very hard for them, especially now, even our members in Mindanao, Cebu, and other parts of Luzon.)&quot;Kung meron nga pong salitang nagdurugo yung puso, yun po talaga yung literal na naramdaman namin ngayon,&quot; added Villaneuva.(If there is such a phrase as bleeding heart, that&#x27;s literally what we are feeling now.)De Asis again urged Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; dela Rosa to offer solutions following his remarks for the network&#x27;s employees who might get laid off, to just &quot;find another job.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/10/20/abs-cbn-union-president-to-bato-looking-for-new-jobs-difficult-in-a-pandemic">ABS-CBN union president to Bato: Looking for new jobs difficult in a pandemic</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/09/20/dela-rosa-to-abs-cbn-workers-who-could-lose-jobs-hanap-ng-ibang-trabaho">Dela Rosa to ABS-CBN workers who could lose jobs: &#x27;Hanap ng ibang trabaho&#x27;</a></li></ul>&quot;Ang sa&#x27;kin, sana, ang pakiusap ko kay Sen. Bato, sa susunod na magbibigay siya ng statement, isipin niya muna kung meron siyang i-o-offer na trabaho,&quot; he said.(I urge Sen. Bato, the next time he gives a statement, to think if he can even offer a job.)&quot;At least meron kang pag-asa... Yun sana yung dapat niyang i-offer sa taumbayan. Hindi yung nai-boto na siya, eh, &#x27;Bahala na kayo sa buhay niyo!&#x27; Almost 8 to 10 million ang walang trabaho ngayon. Ang daming kompanya na nagsasara.&quot;(At least you have some hopes... That&#x27;s what he should offer to the people, and not leave them to fend for themselves after he&#x27;s been voted into power. There are almost 8 to 10 million jobless Filipinos right now. Many companies are closing.)De Asis said it was the people&#x27;s money used to pay Dela Rosa&#x27;s education at the Philippine Military Academy, and his salary a police officer before, and now, as as a senator.&quot;Sana ibalik niya naman ito sa tao nang maganda at makabuluhan na salita, at bigyan ng pag-asa. Yun po sana ang inaasahan namin sa kanya—solusyon,&quot; he said.(I hope he can give it back to the people by given them substantial statements and hope. That&#x27;s what we expect from him--solution.)ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries have over 11,000 workers, as of December 2019.The company, as well as lawmakers and several groups who sought for the granting of a franchise, have cited, among others, the plight of the workers and their families especially amid the coronavirus pandemic that has dragged the economy.Before the denial of its franchise application, ABS-CBN was forced to halt on May 5 its broadcast operations on free TV and radio. Its previous franchise expired a day earlier.Two weeks ago, two alias cease and desist orders were also issued against ABS-CBN&#x27;s digital broadcast in Metro Manila, and its sister company Sky Cable&#x27;s direct broadcast satellite service nationwide.ABS-CBN Ceo and President Carlo Katigbak told senators in May that the company may &quot;consider&quot; retrenching workers by August if it fails to resume broadcast, citing financial constraints. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/19/20/abs-cbn-may-consider-retrenchment-by-august-if-it-fails-to-resume-airing-ceo">ABS-CBN may &#x27;consider&#x27; retrenchment by August if it fails to resume airing: CEO</a></li></ul><div>news.abs-cbn.com is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</div>

The families of some 11,000 ABS-CBN workers are also affected following lawmakers' decision to deny the network a fresh franchise, officials of the company's employees unions said Sunday.

The families of some 11,000 ABS-CBN workers are also affected following lawmakers' decision to deny the network a fresh franchise, officials of the company's employees unions said Sunday.

'Makakapag-aral pa ba kami?': Families of ABS-CBN workers suffer from franchise denial

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'Makakapag-aral pa ba kami?': Families of ABS-CBN workers suffer from franchise denial

Gillan Ropero,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 12, 2020 09:56 AM PHT

|

Updated Jul 12, 2020 10:05 AM PHT

Read More:

DZMM

Teleradyo

ABS-CBN workers

Raul de Asis

Jon Villanueva

Bato dela Rosa

ABS-CBN franchise

House of Representatives

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