Two months after the ABS-CBN shutdown, the joint House panel is set to decide on the fate of the broadcasting giant this week with two remaining hearings.
Whether or not the network gets a new 25-year franchise depends on what happens today and on Wednesday. If the committee members vote no, then it’s the end for the Lopezes but if a majority votes yes, then it would be up to over 300 legislators to decide as a plenary when Congress reopens later this month.
[READ: Is the ABS-CBN shutdown unconstitutional?]
But ABS-CBN veteran director Johnny Manahan is just about done as the hearings stretch on for the 12th time. This is why he is writing to Congress to plead his mother network’s case.
In a copy uploaded on Instagram by Manahan’s daughter, the director outlines the network’s rocky mid-years, just when he was hired.
He recalled the martial law years—the last time the broadcast network was shut down by a dictator—leading him to freelance and literally channel surf to find jobs.
“In 1986 during the EDSA Revolt, I climbed the walls along with Jim Paredes and Johnny Delgado to ‘liberate’ the ABS-CBN compound from the military.”
Now almost 34 years since that happened, Manahan is pleading with Congress: “The Marcoses stole ABS from the Lopez family in 1973! Please do not steal it again!”
‘A theater of the absurd’
Manahan who has managed one of the network’s flagship talent arms Star Magic for years and has been on the top seat at the company as vice president thinks the debate over granting a new franchise has gone on for too long with the opposing side’s “niggling, petty-fogging and hair-splitting.”
[READ: “Ang Probinsyano,” “TV Patrol” completely off air? NTC wants to shut down ABS-CBN TVplus, too]
Mr. M, as he is lovingly called within the company, echoes the sentiment of veteran journalist Vergel O. Santos, who in writing about the proceedings, called it “a theater of the absurd.” Remember deputy speaker Rep. Rodante Marcoleta’s request for ABS-CBN chair Eugenio Lopez III to recite “Panatang Makabayan” to prove his nationality?
Over the course of 11 hearings, the committee has discussed various allegations against the corporation, including tax evasion, foreign ownership and violations of labor laws, which Manahan agreed was a necessary bone to pick.
“It was right to bring to light the true conditions of the workplace and the pittance received by technical crews and artists working 22-24-hour days. You got that right Cong. Mike [Defensor]!”
To this and other criticisms hurled at his employer, Manahan simply says, “ABS is not perfect. No one said it was. It is open to criticism and is willing to correct mistakes and take concrete steps to improve itself.
“So let us not throw away the baby along with the bathwater!”
This week, the committee is set to deliberate on ABS-CBN’s purported “political bias,” one that has angered President Rodrigo Duterte and which supporters claim was the root of the franchise issue in the first place.
In his letter to Congress, next to Rep. Defensor, Manahan singles out senior deputy majority leader Rep. Crispin “Boying” Remulla, who on the last hearing, brought up the questionable relationship between Amcara Broadcasting Network and ABS-CBN. The former was found to be using transmitters purchased by the latter to air digital TV channels.
“I hope you, Cong. Boying and your fellow lawmakers in the committee and in the House as a whole appreciate the ABS record of entertainment and public service and find it in your hearts to grant a reissue of the ABS Franchise. Millions of people and thousands of employers depend on it.”
Header photo courtesy of Juana Manahan-Yupangco and Edwin Bacasmas for Inquirer
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Read more:
Is the ABS-CBN shutdown unconstitutional?
“Ang Probinsyano,” “TV Patrol” completely off air? NTC wants to shut down ABS-CBN TVplus, too