The 70-11 vote in the House panel decision that killed ABS-CBN’s bid to renew its franchise has stirred former actress and Batangas 6th district Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto to thoughts.
In an interview with ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo on Friday night, Santos, who was among the 11 lawmakers who voted in favor of the franchise renewal of network said, “Pareho ninyo, ako’y nagulat. Kasi initially…, alam ko kahit paano, maraming sumusuporta sa bill na ito na inilalaban namin.”
“Biglang, bakit kami kumonti ng ganito na lang? Very significant naman na bigla na lang kami naging 11,” she added.
The representative however said that there are simply processes in the House that she could not understand.
“May mga ganyang palakad na kung minsan ay hindi natin basta matatanong o makikuwestiyon. Maski ako, hanggang ngayon, hindi ko ma-absorb, nahihirapan ako,” she said.
At this point, she is hoping that there will still be remedy to save the shuttered giant network taking into consideration its more than 11,000 employees now at risk of losing their jobs.
“I’m still very optimistic, we can refile. Puwede naman po ‘yan later on. Sabi ko nga, hindi dito magsasara ‘yan,” she said.
“Let’s face the truth: more than 11,000 ang mawawalan na naman ng trabaho… With the present situation na hinaharap natin ngayon, ang dagok ng pandemyang COVID-19,” Santos added.
Among the issues on the findings cited by the technical working group (TWG) of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises are the citizenship of ABS-CBN chair emeritus Gabby Lopez; possible violation of the constitutional limits on foreign ownership; and reported labor and tax violations.
