President Rodrigo Duterte Will Block the Renewal of ABS-CBN Franchise!

Photo grabbed from Inquirer.net

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, after meeting with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, President Rodrigo Duterte was ambushed with an interview about the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise. President Rodrigo responded that he will block them because of "swindling" because ABS-CBN did not show his political ads during the 2016 campaign season and they were already paid for it. Not only his ads did not show up, even Senator Chiz Escudero's ads and other people's ads didn't show up even if they already paid. Here is what he said in the interview

[The franchise] has been there for 25 years. Sabi ng batas okay na, only if you adhere to journalistic standards. Ang ginawa ninyo sa amin, estafa, swindling, not only me but Chiz Escudero, pati si ano, marami pa yan. Putangina harap harapan pang komolekta kayo tapos estafa ninyo kami. So I will file a complaint. Congress no need to renew it. But to operate is something else, so I will point this out, yong basura ninyo, then we’ll see.

Then a woman from the media ask President Rodrigo:

Wait Sir, just to clarify you, you're going to block the renewal of franchise of ABS?

And here is the response of Mr. President:

Yes because they are committing a crime! Kung ganun kana, e, you are engaged in swindling. Ilang kompanya na nagbayad pero hindi ninyo pinalabas. If you operate ABS-CBN tapos manloloko lang kayo ng tao, mag swindling kayo. I have to stop you.

Here is the video of the said interview:

Grabbed from Rappler

House Bill 4349 seeking to renew the franchise granted to ABS-CBN for 25 years is still at the committee level. The franchise will expire in 2020.
The Stockholders of ABS-CBN feared that President Rodrigo Duterte will really block the renewal of the said network but ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III rest assured them that company had plenty of time to work on it.
On Friday, April 28, 2017, The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) warned the President about this issue. Here is their statement:

President Rodrigo Duterte would be well advised to step back across the line he crossed on Wednesday, April 27, 2017 when he threatened to personally block the renewal by Congress of broadcast network ABS-CBN’s franchise, and to go after the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
This is the first time he has openly threatened to shut down a media organization by using alleged offenses that have nothing to do with journalism.
By issuing such threats, Mr. Duterte is blatantly dangling the powers of the presidency and of the state, signaling his willingness to use these to stifle freedom of the press and of expression.
Just as he was not joking when he declared human rights and due process anathema to his brand of governance and now, it seems, so are a free and critical media.
What we do know is the last time a president actually shut down the press, it did not end well for him, like it almost always never ends well for tyrants.
Not to do so is to seal our doom and to betray our role as the Fourth Estate, the people’s watchdogs against bad and abusive governance.

What can you say about this? Are you in favor of President Rodrigo Duterte's desicion? Comment below now!