It is argued by Vice President Leni Robredo that President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier threat against ABS-CBN regarding its franchise renewal may have only shed light on previous speculations on whether he actually played a part in its shutdown last year.
The President’s statement saying he will not grant the network a permit to restart operations unless the Lopezes settle allegedly “unpaid taxes” was questioned by Robredo on Sunday. This allegation had already been refuted before by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Noong pinag-uusapan ito sa Congress, parang si Sec Roque ang nagsabi na hands off si Presidente,” Robredo said in her radio show Biserbisyong Leni. “So ngayon parang baliktad. Parang baliktad na sinasabi na kahit bigyan, sisisuguraduhin na hindi makakapag-operate habang hindi pa binabayaran yung taxes.”
“Parang pinanindigan nila for a very long time na walang kinalaman si Presidente sa pagcancel ng prangkisa kasi Congress lang iyon,” said Robredo. “Tapos ngayon baligtad yung sinasabi.”
“Parang kino-confirm lang yung pagduda ng marami dati. ‘Yung sinasabi ng spokesperson, iba sa sinasabi ng principal,” she added.
The Palace had insisted in the past that Duterte remained neutral on all congressional decisions related to the media giant, despite publicly threatening the network of a shutdown the previous years for refusing to carry his 2016 campaign ads.
