BREAKING: NTC: We regret failing to notify Congress on stop order vs ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines — Officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Thursday admitted they should have alerted Congress of their “inability based on legal grounds” to issue a provisional authority (PA) to ABS-CBN Corp.

In a letter addressed to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Alvarez, chair of the House committee on legislative franchises, the NTC officials said that “Constitution, the laws, and jurisprudence, provided insurmountable obstacles to the issuance of a PA, notwithstanding equitable considerations.”

The letter was in response to the show cause order earlier issued by Alvarez against the four NTC officials namely, Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios, Deputy Commissioner Delilah Deles, and Legal Branch Head Ella Blanca Lopez, to explain why they should not be cited in contempt after the commission directed media giant ABS-CBN to stop its broadcast operations.

To recall, Cordoba told members of the House in March that they will follow the advice of the Department of Justice (DOJ), allowing ABS-CBN to operate beyond the lapse of its franchise on May 4 while its franchise renewal bid is pending in Congress.

“Nonetheless, we regret failing to notify you, the Honorable Speaker, and the House of Representatives, and in particular the Chairperson and members of the Committee on Legislative Franchise, of our decision to issue a CDO against ABS-CBN following the expiration of its franchise last 4 May 2020,” the NTC officials said in the letter.

“We are deeply saddened as well for the inconvenience we may have caused Congress. Again, we express our contriteness and sincere apologies for the ensuing confusion this has caused, not the least because we are in the midst of a crisis,” they added.