Duterte says TV frequencies reverted to gov’t to be used for e-learning

July 27, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that television frequencies reverted to the government would be used for e-learning.

He made the statement weeks after the House committee on legislative franchises rejected ABS-CBN Corp.'s application for the renewal of its franchise.

"TV frequencies reverted back to government (for) whatever cause or reason shall not be used exclusively to the exclusion of other persons or other dummies to cope up with the demand of next normal," he said in his fifth of the State of the Nation Address.

"This will be used to provide uninterrupted quality education to our children in our shift to e-learning," Duterte added.

The Department of Education will implement "blended learning" when classes open on August 24 due to coronavirus disease pandemic.

The government will use the Internet, TV, radio and printed materials in teaching the children. There will be no face-to-face classes for the time being.

But Duterte has approved a limited face-to-face classes in areas where there are low cases of COVID-19.

In his SONA, Duterte clarified that the limited face-to-face classes will start in January.

In using the frequencies that were returned to the government, the President ordered Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña and Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan, in collaboration with DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones and Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, to come up with an integrated program and implementation mechanism to ensure that the TV frequencies are "fully utilized by government through the facilities of PTV-4 for the utmost benefit of the Filipino people."

ABS-CBN had stopped airing on free TV after the National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease and desist order last May following the expiration of the giant network's 25-year franchise.

The Lopez-owned network has started the retrenchment of its 11,000 employees after Congress rejected the renewal of its franchise. Celerina Monte/DMS