• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Senate president Tito Sotto files for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, but we’re not impressed
ShareTweet
In Culture
2 min read

Senate president Tito Sotto files for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, but we’re not impressed

By Amrie Cruzon January 4, 2021
preen tito sotto abs-cbn franchise renewal bill
Share

preen tito sotto abs-cbn franchise renewal bill

In a twisted turn of events (We’re exaggerating. A number of Philippine politicians have a history of backtracking and seem to make decisions based on the status quo or approval ratings), Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto has filed today a bill to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise. While Sotto’s Senate Bill No. 1967 seeking to grant the network a 25-year franchise is sounds like good news, netizens are wary of giving him brownie points.

Breaking: SP Sotto filed SB1967 – An act renewing the franchise granted to ABS-CBN Corp. #SPSOTTO #teamsotto

Posted by Vicente Tito Sotto on Monday, January 4, 2021

The explanatory note of bill (which could have been more well-written and convincing) reads: “ABS-CBN’s wide reach to Filipinos, alongside with the undeniable advantages of broadcast media relative to mass communication, definitely calls for the immediate renewal of the network’s franchise. Thus, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.” 

Apart from acknowledging that the network is an important source of information, Sotto told reporters through a text message, “I noticed the TV stations have been replacing their news programs with [anime]. It means competition is absent and mediocrity is creeping in because of the absence of a strong competitor like ABS-CBN.” He adds that due to the change of leadership in the House, ABS-CBN now has a “better chance” of getting a renewal. In October 2020, Taguig-Pateros Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano was ousted as house speaker and replaced by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!

— Tito Sotto (@sotto_tito) May 5, 2020

Sotto received flak back in May 2020 after he abstained to vote on Senate Resolution No. 395 which sought to reconsider the cease-and-desist order against ABS-CBN. Days before the vote, he tweeted, “ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!” Among the titles that netizens gave him were “man with zero credibility” and a “true comedian.”

While there are netizens who speculate that he filed the bill because he could be running for office in 2022, others pointed out that even if the intentions behind it are good, a bill requesting for a franchise renewal is a private bill that must come first from the House. Sen. Sonny Angara mentioned this in his statement of support for the bill: “We support that, but as you know it’s all dependent on what the house will do since it is subject to the origination clause of the constitution.”

NEWS UPDATE: House deputy speaker and Batangas 6th District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto says she will file a bill for the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise in the House, following Senate President Vicente Sotto III's filing of Senate Bill 1967. | @JMAurelioINQ pic.twitter.com/JpYOuE1I01

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) January 4, 2021

House deputy speaker and Batangas 6th District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto announced shortly afterward that she will be filing a bill for the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise in the House. In a statement, she said that she will ask her chief of staff to prepare a bill seeking the renewal of ABS-CBN and that she plans to file it before Congress resumes session on Jan. 18.

While we do hope that the network will be granted a new franchise, expect us to be on the lookout for politicians who will take advantage of the efforts to bring it back to further personal political gains. 

 

Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Viber

Related Stories:
SONA 2020 takes from Sotto and Cayetano we wish we could unhear
Sen. Sotto refuses to pass SOGIE bill because he can’t find the words “trans woman” and “trans man” in the dictionary
Let’s talk priorities—halting all ABS-CBN operations shouldn’t be at the top
Disinformation nation: The ABS-CBN shutdown is a suppression of truth

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
ABS-CBN franchise renewalpolitics

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Amrie Cruz
Amrie is a nonbinary writer who likes to talk about politics and viral animal videos. They have a dog daughter named Cassie who doesn’t go to school.

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
Previous
Christine Dacera is already being victim-blamed and that’s not okay
Next
Fourth gen k-pop groups you need to listen to ASAP
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.