President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said that he would not allow the National Telecommunications Commission to give ABS-CBN a license to operate even if the network is given a new franchise by Congress. advertisement
Duterte indicated the Lopez family should first settle its unpaid obligations.
“Congress is planning to restore the franchise. Wala akong problem kung i-restore ninyo but I will not allow them to operate. I will not allow the NTC to grant them the permit to operate,” Duterte said.
“Unless and until mabayaran ng mga Lopez ang taxes nila, I will ignore your frnachise and I will not give them the license to operate,” he added.
Lopez Holdings Corp. has said it had no outstanding loans with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
“Lopez Holdings Corp. does not have any unpaid obligations to the Development Bank of the Philippines or other government financial institutions,” it said in a statement in 2017.
Duterte at that time hit the company formerly known as Benpres over its supposed outstanding debt with the state-owned lender.
“I will not name the person, but ‘yung mga company nila noon — Benpres and about six other companies — may utang sila sa DBP. At ang utang nila, umabot ng… to finance this… pera ng tao, gagamitin nila to finance their business pero kanila ‘yung kita,” Duterte said then.
The holdings firm owns major shareholdings in television network ABS-CBN and in the power, property, and telecommunications sectors. -GMA News