KEY POINTS

  • ABS-CBN addresses the surrounding accusations following the company’s forced shutdown
  • The company issued an official statement, which was posted on its official Twitter account
  • According to ABS-CBN, SEC, NTC and BIR have clarified that the company didn’t have any violations on the aforesaid agencies
  • DOLE also said that ABS-CBN was compliant to labor standards
  • As for the citizenship of Mr. Gabby Lopez, ABS-CBN said it has been duly addressed
  • Other accusations will be addressed in the proper forum

ABS-CBN, one of the biggest broadcasting companies in the Philippines, has issued an official statement surrounding the accusations following the forced shut-off by the government.

In the company’s official statement posted on Twitter, today, it said that ABS-CBN was stunned with the accusations raised during the House Bill 6732 deliberation. ABS-CBN claimed that the accusations were asked during the senate hearing on Feb. 24 and they were answered —under oath— by the government agencies concerned, as well as ABS-CBN.

Employees of ABS-CBN work in the editing booth at the station headquarters in Manila on May 6, 2020 before it was forced to shut down
Employees of ABS-CBN work in the editing booth at the station headquarters in Manila on May 6, 2020 before it was forced to shut down AFP / Ted ALJIBE

ABS-CBN emphasized that in the said hearing, the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Telecommunications Commission and Bureau of Internal Revenue testified that the media company has no violations against each agency.

ABS-CBN also mentioned the statement of Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Department of Labor and Employment, that the broadcasting company was compliant to labor standards.

ABS-CBN also clarified that accusations concerning the citizenship of its Chairman Emeritus, Eugenio Gabriel Lopez III. More commonly known as “Gabby,” Lopez was reportedly born in the U.S. on Aug. 13, 1952. The Bureau of Immigrations reportedly found Lopez holding an American passport as recent as January of this year.

ABS-CBN, in response, said that Lopez was born to Filipino parents. Citing the 1935 Philippines Constitution which was in effect when Lopez was born, ABS-CBN argued that its big boss could be considered as a Filipino citizen.

The statement further indicated that while he was born in the U.S., which made him a U.S. citizen under the U.S. Constitution, he no longer needed to acquire Filipino citizenship because he did not lose it nor renounce it, The Manila Times.

ABS-CBN said that certain accusations were made without submitted and authenticated evidence. Nevertheless, the media giant assured its employees and the public that these accusations would be addressed in the proper forum.

NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN, which forced the network to halt its operations. The network went off the air on May 5.

Consequently, ABS-CBN filed a plea before the Supreme Court for the resumption of its broadcast operations. The petition was filed on May 7 and according to ABS-CBN News, the petition will be tackled on May 19.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ House of Representatives is currently deliberating on House Bill 6732. The said House Bill has the proposal to grant the media company with a provisional franchise.

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