NTC apologizes to House of Representatives for not giving ABS-CBN provisional authority to operate
May 15, 2020
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Thursday said it backtracked on its vow to grant the ABS-CBN Corp. a provisional authority to operate pending congressional deliberations on the various bills seeking to renew its congressional franchise.
NTC officials apologized to the House of Representatives for issuing a cease and desist order which forced the television network last May 5 to go off the air.
“Please rest assured that we intended no disrespect whatsoever towards Congress. On the contrary, it was precisely NTC’s full respect and recognition for Congress’ sole
prerogatives that led it to desist from issuing a PA ( provisional authority) and, thereafter, to conclude that it was legally bound to issue a CDO,” the NTC said in a letter to the House leadership.
The letter was signed by NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, Deputy Commissioners Edgardo Cabarios and Delilah Deles, and legal branch head Ella Blanca Lopez.
The House last Monday gave the NTC 72 hours to explain why it should not be cited in contempt for closing down ABS-CBN.
On Wednesday, the House voted on second reading to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate until October 31 while hearings will be held to renew its congressional franchise.
The order was contained in a letter emailed to the NTC by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, chair of the House committee on legislative franchises.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said last Wednesday the NTC had to do at the very least was inform Congress it could no longer make good on its promise to grant a provisional authority because “this piece of legislation may have been acted upon (by the House) then.”
The NTC admitted that its failure to notify the House of its decision after ABS-CBN franchise expired May 4.
“We are deeply saddened as well for the inconvenience we may have caused Congress. Again, we express our contriteness and sincere apologies for the ensuing confusion this has caused, not the least because we are in the midst of a crisis,” it said.
The NTC said it had to “rigorously” sift through various legal arguments, opinions of legal luminaries, stakeholders, and concerns of other sectors, on how to legally
support the issuance of a provisional authority.
The NTC also admitted that it “considered” the comment submitted by the Office of the Solicitor General (Jose Calida) that a provisional authority is “contrary to the Constitution, the law, and jurisprudence which vested upon Congress the sole power to grant or renew a franchise.”
“Correspondingly, the OSG cautioned the NTC that its issuance of the PA would make its members liable for criminal prosecution,” the NTC said.
In the end, the NTC said the “collective assessment was that the Constitution, the laws, and jurisprudence, provided insurmountable obstacles to the issuance of a PA, notwithstanding equitable considerations.”
“If the NTC were to issue a PA, it would have amounted to an encroachment into the exclusive domain of Congress. We understand that the licensing power of the NTC may only arise from the necessary delegation of power from the Congress through a law. NTC would thus abide by any law passed by Congress which may extend all telecommunication and broadcasting legislative franchises that expired during the public health emergency, if there be any,” it said.
Alvarez said his panel will “advise the NTC in due course of the Committee’s actions with regard to the foregoing matters.'' DMS
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