Embattled ABS-CBN yesterday slammed accusations that it breached provisions of the Constitution even as it declared that its former chairman and president Gabby Lopez is an American citizen and that nothing unlawful was committed when government acknowledged the Lopez family as its real and legal owner in 1986.
ABS-CBN president Carlo Katigbak stressed that the network giant’s management had not committed any violation of the Constitution and the law as he testified before the joint hearing of the committees on Legislative Franchise and Good Government.
The two House panels also heard the sponsorship speeches of majority of authors of 13 legislative measures relevant to ABS- CBN’s application for a new 25-year franchise.
Solicitor General Jose Calida and Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba of the National Telecommunications Commission both appeared and aired legal issues that might trigger their respective testimonies. Both cited the ongoing Supreme Court cases on the ABS-CBN controversy involving them.
Answering accusations hurled by House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta during last week’s opening of the franchise hearings, Katigbak said the 1935 Constitution clearly provides that Lopez is a natural born citizen, born to Filipino parents in 1952.
While Lopez holds a US passport, Katigbak said this is a natural consequence of his being born in an American soil.
In his sponsorship speech of a bill granting ABS-CBN a new franchise, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a former dean of the School of Law of the San Sebastian College, said there is no question Lopez is indeed a Filipino citizen based on the Constitution.
House Deputy Speakers Loren Legarda and Vilma Santos, together with Reps. Sol Aragones (NPC, Laguna) and Joy Tambunting (PDP-Laban, Parañaque City), endorsed the grant of new legislative franchise for the network.
All of them candidly recalled working for the network and cited the network’s role in nation-building and a major source of information and entertainment for millions of Filipinos.
“My mentors in ABS-CBN taught me a lot about work – the value of work, the importance of working for God,” said Tambunting, author of House Bill 3713.
Aragones stated: “ABS-CBN went above and beyond by helping those in need.”
The Kapamilya network considers the most painful doubts aired by Marcoleta on the validity of the Lopez family’s ownership of the broadcast firm.
“The Lopez family never gave up ownership of ABS-CBN. It was never sold nor was ownership ever transferred,” Katigbak declared as he explained that the network was illegally seized by government prior to its return in 1986.
Katigbak also disputed Marcoleta’s claim that as a result of the issuance of the Philippine Depository Receipts by ABS-CBN Holdings Inc., another constitutional violation had been committed by the network. (Ben Rosario)
