House hearing on ABS-CBN franchise renewal going nowhere

From the looks of things, ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application pending at the House of Representatives is going nowhere. As far as the public sees it, no amount of pro-forma hearings can achieve any semblance of “due process and fair play,” given the foregone conclusion made known from the very start.

President Duterte is determined to destroy ABS-CBN at all costs, and his hatchet men in Congress have thrown everything at it, including the kitchen sink and the toilet bowl. This circus must stop. Too much time and money are being wasted by grandstanding sycophants trying their darnedest to impress Mr. Duterte.

ABS-CBN has only two options: Sell the network to Mr. Duterte’s billionaire crony who, as rumors have it, has been salivating over it, or just sit it out until Mr. Duterte steps down in 2022 or perhaps much earlier, due most likely to health reasons.

If ABS-CBN survived Marcos, it surely can survive Mr. Duterte.

Arnulfo Magistrado
[email protected]