Magkakatigbakan na! Katigbak confirms ABS-CBN to begin laying off workers in next few weeks



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.



Post a Comment

0 Comments