Philippines moves to strip biggest media group of its franchise

Philippines moves to strip                  biggest media group of its franchise

Activists and media organisations in the Philippines have denounced Rodrigo Duterte’s government after its lawyers moved to strip the nation’s biggest media group of its franchise in the most severe attack on press freedom in the country yet.

Duterte has repeatedly pledged to stop the broadcast operations of ABS-CBN and expressed anger over its reporting during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

A petition filed with the country’s top court alleges that ABS-CBN violated a restriction imposed by the constitution on foreign ownership of mass media by allowing overseas investors to join the company.

“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices by ABS-CBN,” the solicitor general, Jose Calida, said in a statement. “A franchise is a special privilege granted by the state, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our constitution and laws.”
Other media outlets closed ranks and rallied in support of ABS-CBN on Monday. “We stand with our colleagues at ABS-CBN and share the hope that they will weather this and come out even stronger,” the news website Rappler said in a statement. “The Duterte administration, through Calida, is resorting to legal gymnastics to push their own agenda of silencing critical media.”

The network’s franchise expires on 30 March. Early in his term Duterte had accused it of failing to broadcast his campaign advertisements and not returning the payments. The president has repeatedly vowed in public speeches to block any new licence, and a proposed law that would give ABS-CBN a 25-year operating permit has been gathering dust in congress since mid-2016.

Duterte taunted the network in a speech in December, telling its owners to sell it. “ABS-CBN, your contract is about to expire. If I were you, you’re better off selling it,” he said. “I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever.”

The government used the same accusation about foreign ownership against Rappler, which in 2018 had its licence revoked in a decision that is under appeal. The website, along with its editor, Maria Ressa, faced a string of legal charges related to its critical reporting.