“We want to work with you, to build our nation, but respect our timing and manner of holding our hearings. In other words, let’s all play nice and not just pretend to be nice,” House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano lamented as several senators questioned the House of Representatives’ move to grant ABS-CBN a provisional franchise to operate until October while deliberating on its franchise renewal application.
In his sponsorship speech, Cayetano addressed the concerns of Senate President Vicente Sotto III on the five-month long provisional franchise given to the network instead of 25 years-the usual for legislative franchises. According to the speaker, this five months will be used by the Congress to deliberate on the franchise renewal bills of ABS-CBN.
“Allow us to do our jobs. Remember it is always easier to get 24 people to agree than 300. Remember we represent specific constituencies and sectors and that is why the Constitution provides that franchise bills will exclusively emanate from the House,” Cayetano said.
In the same speech, he defended the legality of the bill which was questioned by Senator Francis Pangilinan on the grounds that there was a same-day approval for first and second reading. Pangilinan cited the Constitution, Article VI, Section 26 (2) of the Charter, which provides that “no bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days.”
This was refuted by Deputy Speaker and Mandaluyong City representative Neptali Gonzales II, “What the Constitution requires is that the first, second and third reading must be done on separate days. It does not require three separate days,” he rebutted.
Gonzales added, “There is nothing wrong for the House to lump together in the same day the first and second readings of a bill and conduct the third reading on a separate day because of the three-day rule, unless certified by the President.”
