Castro’s views on ABS-CBN, TV5 deal clashes with Marcoleta’s

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro spoke on the recent ABS-CBN and TV5 deal Thursday, Aug. 18 and her views turned out to be opposite to that of SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta’s.

Castro, during the Makabayan bloc’s weekly virtual press conference, said she finds nothing wrong with the deal network the two networks.

“Tingin natin hindi naman ito merger o yung pag-ano ng ownership. Syempre above-board naman yung tingin natin yung agreement, at magki-create din ito ng tinatawag nating trabaho (Our view is that this isn’t a merger or something about ownership. Of course we think that the agreement is above-board, and this will also create jobs),” said the teacher-congresswoman.

“Inuulit natin, no transfer of controlling shares, at hindi naman dominant ang TV5 as market player (We repeat, there was transfer of controlling shares, and TV5 isn’t a dominant player in the market),” Castro said.

To the common observer, the deal is advantageous to ABS-CBN, since it has been off the air for two years. The Kapamilya network’s franchise renewal application was rejected by the House of Representatives in 2020.

Based on Castro’s appreciation of the deal, the shuttered ABS-CBN will serve as a “content provider” of TV5. “Makakatulong ito sa mga mamamayan (This is a boon to our countrymen),” she said.

She also said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) “proved” during the House hearings on the network’s franchise renewal that it had “no obligations”.

Marcoleta, who played a big part in the rejection of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal during the previous 18th Congress, has been the most active in assailing the ABS-CBN and TV5 deal.

According to him, the deal could be in violation of antitrust and competition laws, and its for this reason that he wants the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to look into it. He further claimed that the deal could result to a “monopoly” of the industry.

Marcoleta also said that the deal violates section 5 of TV5’s franchise from Congress.

Moreover, on the subject of obligations, he claimed that ABS-CBN owes the government P1.6 trillion. For context, that’s roughly a third of the country’s entire budget for this year.

He said that the BIR promised the House during the franchise renewal hearing that they would look into the alleged tax liabilities of ABS-CBN, but the agency ultimately did nothing.

Nakita naman natin sa mga pahayag na yung ABS-CBN, TV5 agreement…yung ABS-CBN qy content provider nung mga ipapalabas doon sa TV5 na kung titignan natin, makakatulong ito sa mga mamamayan.

Madadagdagan yung kanilang pwedeng pagpilian, panooran nung mga entrainment at iba pang mga knowledge or whatever na gustong ipalabas.