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| Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN and Twitter |
ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Lopez Katigbak expressed his
fear to lawmakers Tuesday that they would start laying off personnel by next week
with zero chance of opening soon after getting put off the air 20 days ago.
Katigbak told lawmakers Tuesday
that it would start laying off their workers by next week with no chance of opening
soon after getting booted off the air 20 days ago.
“We want to do everything we can to protect our employees.
Pero may hangganan din ang kakayahan ng kumpanya namin. said Katigbak during the House committee hearing on its franchise application.
Habang wala kami sa
ere, palaki ng palaki ang nalulugi sa amin,” Katigbak added.
ABS-CBN told the Supreme Court it was losing as much as P35
million a day from foregone revenues since Channels 2 and 23 and radio stations
DZMM 630 and MOR 101.9 were ordered to shut down by the National
Telecommunications Commission on May 5.
The Kapamilya network will reveal who will stay, who will go
by June among its 11,000 employees.
“At sa mga darating na linggo, mapipilitan na kaming
maglabas ng listahan ng mga empleyadong mawawalan ng trabaho. Sana makita po ng
Kongreso na nasa kapangyarihan ninyo ang kinabukasan nila,” Katigbak added.
The giant network President had also earlier promised to
pay its employees their full salaries and benefits up to August 5.
But there is no assurance ABS-CBN will get back its much-coveted
frequencies if it does get a new franchise. And the most optimistic scenario
for ABS-CBN getting its franchise back is August.
ABS-CBN went off the air on May 5 after
the cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission
(NTC) to stop its operations after its franchise expired on May 4.
During his speech, Katigbak admitted
that he is hurt seeing the situation of the company's employees, whom he also
considers as his family, who fear losing their jobs especially amid the ongoing
COVID-19 crisis.
"May nagsasabi sa social media na
nagpapa-awa lang daw kami. Sana makausap ninyo ang isang nanay o tatay na
mawawalan ng hanapbuhay. Sana po maramdaman ninyo ang takot nila, kapag iniisip
nila kung paano nila bubuhayin at papakainin ang kanilang pamilya. Sana po
pakinggan ninyo ang boses ng aming mga kapamilya," he said.
"Hindi po kami nagmamakaawa,
umaapela po kami. Ibalik ninyo po ang ABS-CBN para maprotektahan namin ang
11,000 na kapamilya at kanilang mga minamahal sa buhay," he added.
Katigbak insisted that there is no
reason for the shutdown of ABS-CBN's broadcast operations, saying that no court
has yet determined that they violated any law.
"Sinasabi po ng mga bumabatikos
sa amin, the law is the law. We agree. The law is the law. And under the law,
we are innocent unless proven guilty," he said.
"Masakit po itong nangyari sa
amin. Umasa po kami sa hangarin ninyo at ng Senado na habang pinag-uusapan ang
prangkisa, hindi po kami mawawala sa ere. Sa pag-shutdown namin, marami sa
ating mga kababayan ang napagkaitan ng serbisyo ng ABS-CBN, lalung-lalo na sa
panahon ng pandemya," he added.
The joint House panels began hearing
the bills granting another 25-year franchise to ABS-CBN after the House
leadership decided to drop the measure that would apparently give the giant
network a provisional franchise until October 31, 2020.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, said the
issue on the ABS-CBN franchise has already become "so divisive" and
is taking up the time even as there are more pressing matters to discuss such
as the measures for the pandemic coronavirus response.
However, Cayetano vowed to have a fair
and comprehensive hearing on the issue on the committee level. The next
hearing of the joint panels is set on Monday.
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