ABS-CBN Thursday denies allegations of bribing a lawmaker to favor its franchise bid in the House of Representatives.
“ABS-CBN did not send an emissary to bribe any lawmaker to vote in favor of our franchise application,” the media network said in a public statement.
“We believe in the process and we have participated in the process. We answered all issues raised in the past 12 hearings,” it added.
This was a response to ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Yap claimed that a supposed emissary of the media network attempted to bribe him to vote for the granting of the franchise in exchange for ₱200 million.
“More than two weeks ago, may tumawag sa atin, nagpakilalang emisaryo ng ABS-CBN at hinimok tayong bumoto pabor sa ABS-CBN kapalit ng ₱200 million,” he said in a statement.
[More than two weeks ago, somebody called me up, introduced himself as an emissary of ABS-CBN and offered me to vote in favot of the netwok in exhange for ₱200 million.]
Yap also said that he denied the offer.
Yap, a known ally of the current administration, was among the many congressmen who grilled ABS-CBN in the past for its supposed violations in tax obligation.
On Friday, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Legislative Franchises on Friday denied the application for a franchise of media giant ABS-CBN Corp. The decision was made with a majority of 70 affirmative votes in favor of the “Resolution Denying the Franchise Application of ABS-CBN Corporation to Construct, Install, Establish, Operate, and Maintain Radio and Broadcasting Stations in the Philippines.”
