Yesterday, July 26, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA). He began and ended his speech lambasting Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon for a variety of reasons—one of which accused Drilon of defending the owners of the recently closed down, media giant ABS-CBN.
“This happened after the Committee on Franchise voted 70-11 to deny the grant of franchise to ABS-CBN. Obviously, he was defending the Lopezes that they are not oligarchs,” Duterte said during his SONA.
After the SONA, Drilon defended his stance in an interview with Rappler’s Maria Ressa. “I was defending freedom of the press, not the Lopezes. The closure of the ABS-CBN sent a chilling effect.”
Other than defending press freedom, Drilon added that he was only speaking for the 11,000 ABS-CBN workers who are in danger of losing their jobs amid a pandemic. “I was defending the 11,000 people and their families who would lose jobs amid the pandemic, not the Lopezes.”
Last July 15, a few days after Congress denied their franchise renewal, ABS-CBN announced that they will begin to retrench employees by Aug. 31.
[READ: After nonrenewal of franchise, ABS-CBN will lay off workers by end of August]
“I owe nothing to the Lopezes. The fact that I defended ABS-CBN was because of the principle that the unjust act of the House of the Representatives poses a danger to our press freedom,” Drilon mentioned.
How it began
So, what actually happened that gave Drilon the honor of being this SONA’s bookend mentions? Previously, Drilon challenged Duterte to ban political dynasties after the president claimed that he successfully dismantled the oligarchy after the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise.
Contrary to the belief of House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said it is not term limits that lead political dynasties to thrive in the country but the “desire” to hold on to power. https://t.co/NSb9RYchYv pic.twitter.com/pFXA1b6SVE
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 22, 2020
“You are an oligarch if you use your power to promote through the political system your own interest,” Drilon had said. He also pointed out that being rich does not equate to being an oligarch, rather it is made by the government’s decision to use their wealth to pursue policies and laws that protect business interests.
“Oligarchy is bad for our governance and, therefore, as a policy, yes, we should adopt policies to prevent or dismantle these oligarchies. But, let’s make sure that the oligarchs are not substituted by cronies,” he added.
Duterte retaliated during his SONA, claiming that Drilon was accusing his family of being oligarchs. “Bakit kasi ikaw lang ang galit? Nasabi mo na dynasty, dynasty. You are a hypocrite. You know that you cannot pass an anti-dynasty law,” he added.
Drilon has filed an anti-dynasty bill back in 2016. However, the measure failed to pass the legislative branch as many lawmakers are part of political dynasties.
Header photo courtesy of Edwin Bacasmas from Inquirer.net
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