ABS-CBN said it cannot comment on the looming expiration of its franchise after the 17th Congress adjourned without acting on the bill seeking to renew the media giant’s license to operate.
Nine months before the network’s franchise expires on March 30, 2020, the price of ABS-CBN stock also fell to its lowest in 10 years on Thursday, sliding down to P17.66 per share.
The Kapamilya network issued a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on June 12 after Philstar reported that the House of Representatives froze House Bill 4349, which seeks to renew the network’s franchise for 25 years.
Philstar also reported that without a franchise, the network might have to close.
“ABS-CBN is unable to clarify or comment on the article as it is neither the source of the said news article nor is it privy to any claims expressed therein,” the network said.
It was Speaker Gloria Macapaga-Arroyo who commented on HB 4349 on Thursday.
“Our sessions are over…The [17th] Congress is finished,” Arroyo was quoted in an Inquirer.net report as saying.
HB 4349 has been pending since November 2016; it has to be refilled in the 18th Congress. If passed into law, President Rodgrido Duterte has to sign it.
Duterte has vowed to block the renewal of ABS-CBN franchise, accusing the media giant of unfair reporting and of swindling him during the campaign in the 2016 elections.
In April 2017, Duterte signed the law renewing the franchise of GMA Network Inc. for another 25 years.
