Bulacan 1st District Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said that the House of Representatives is being fair in the hearings being conducted on broadcast giant ABS-CBN’s appeal for a 25-year franchise.
Claims that the institution is being one-sided and biased are all fake news, according to Sy-Alvarado.
“Hindi natin dapat sabihin na biased ‘yung hearing na ito. Lahat ng nagsabi niyan siguro nakalimutang manuod thoroughly ng hearing natin, ‘yan clearly ay fake news.”
[We should not say that the hearings are biased. Those who said that maybe forgot to watch thoroughly the hearings. That is fake news.]
“Sa akin namang pakiwari ay lahat naman ay masaya pwera lang sa iilan na nagpahayag ng kanilang pagkadismaya,” the lawmaker said.
[For me, everyone is happy except for a few who have expressed their dismay.]
He noted that the said hearings give chances for both pro and against the franchise renewal to speak their minds on the issue at hand.
“Hindi natin masasabi na one-sided and hearing na ito. Sabi ko nga po, kung binigyan ko ng 30 minuto ang anti-ABS, bibigyan ko rin ng 30 minuto ang pro. Kung mayrong hindi gumamit ng isang minuto at nasayang pa, pinapabayaan ko na gamitin ng iba sa mga kasama nila sa pagtatanong ‘yung isa o kahit kalahating minuto na natitira,” he said.
[We cannot say that the hearings are one-sided. As I said, if we give 30 minutes to those against the ABS-CBN franchise, I would also give 30 minutes to those who are pro. If there is still unused time, even a minute, we allow their peers to use it in their questioning even if that is just a minute or half a minute.]
Sy-Alvarado stood by how his committee have handled the hearings and affirmed that it is doing a “good job.”
“Wala na kayong mahahanap na mas fair, mas patas, at mas komprehensibong hearing kesa sa binigay nating hearing,” Sy-Alvarado added.
[You cannot find a fairer and more comprehensive hearing than this.]
