Government seeks to shut down leading TV network

MANILA — The Philippine government moved Monday to end the franchise of the country’s leading broadcast network, the latest push by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte against media outlets that have been critical of his leadership.

The Philippine solicitor general, Jose Calida, lodged a complaint with the country’s highest court, accusing ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence, of violating the operating franchise it was granted by Congress, which is set to expire in March.

“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practice of ABS-CBN benefiting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers,” Calida said in a statement announcing the move. “These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years.”

But critics of Duterte say he is on the warpath against media entities that have questioned his drug war, which has drawn international condemnation. ABS-CBN, along with Filipino online news site Rappler, have been at the forefront of critical reporting about the antidrug campaign, which has left nearly 6,000 people dead since Duterte took office in 2016.

Calida said the government will prove that ABS-CBN has been broadcasting for a fee, “which is beyond the scope of its legislative franchise.” He also accused the company of hiding behind what he said was an “elaborately crafted corporate veil” by allowing foreign investors to take part in its ownership.

As he has with ABS-CBN, Duterte has personally gone after Rappler, arguing that it was partly owned by foreign investors. The attempt to shut down Rappler, however, appear to have fizzled after the news site’s foreign investors transferred their shares to their Filipino partners.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines assailed the move against the...