Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) — Media giant ABS-CBN is considering the retrenchment of its employees by August if it stays off the air by then, the network’s president and CEO told the Senate on Tuesday.
“I’m afraid if we do not get back on air soon, by August we may have to consider beginning a retrenchment process,” ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak told the Senate Committee on Public Services.
Despite losses in substantial revenues after they were ordered to shut down on May 5, Katigbak said they remain committed to their promise that their 11,000 workers will still have jobs for at least three months.
“We felt it would be very, very painful to put our employees out on the street without them having an idea as to how they can continue earning a living and continue to feed their families,” he noted.
However, Katigbak said that such commitment cannot remain “open-ended,” due to the network’s financial constraints. The network’s franchise had expired on May 4.
“We continue to lose a substantial amount of money every month,” he said.
ABS-CBN is banking on the grant of a provisional franchise supported by Congress as among the reasons why the National Telecommunications Commission should not recall its assigned frequencies.
The House of Representatives is eyeing the passage of the provisional franchise which would be valid until October 31. However, on Monday it recalled the approval of the measure on second reading, with some lawmakers saying that they wanted to deliberate on the issue further.
“Our end objective is hopefully to secure a 25-year franchise,” Katigbak told the Senate panel. “If securing the franchise is the fastest way to go back on air, then we have no objection to that.”
The senators noted during the hearing that a 25-year franchise should be considered instead of the five-month provisional franchise being proposed by the House.
“Tayo rin nagpapahirap sa trabaho natin (We’re just making our jobs more difficult),” Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao said. “Five months is not enough unless we finish deliberations until October 31.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros also raised that should Congress act on the matter, a “pro-worker” franchise would set a good precedent for other networks to also look into the welfare of their employees.
Financial analyst April Tan previously told CNN Philippines that despite losses, ABS-CBN still has around ₱4 billion left which would allow it to support its workers at least until August.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday required the National Telecommunications Commission to comment on the network’s plea to nullify the order to stop its operations.
In its petition, the Kapamilya network said that it incurs losses ranging from ₱30 million to ₱35 million every day that it is off air.
The network’s shutdown was heavily criticized as an attack on press freedom, since President Rodrigo Duterte made public rants over its failure to air his campaign advertisements in 2016.
