February 29, 2020

FORMER Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez said yesterday that congress should act quickly on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.

“I don’t understand why they’re not acting on it quickly. They should conduct committee hearing then move on,” Benitez who is also the convenor of the Visayan Bloc pointed out.

The ABS-CBN issue is in congress and for the past couple of days the discussion has accelerated on the franchise and there are people against it while some are supporting it. The latest is Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte.

Benitez said the Visayan Bloc and every congressman is in agreement that it should be tackled by congress whether to grant the renewal of the franchise or not it should be subject to deliberation when they hear it in the house.

“How can you make a decision when you don’t hear about the alleged violation. Let’s hear them first,” Benitez further said.

Meanwhile Benitez said that the rumors about the plan of some congressmen to oust Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano as Speaker of the House is not true.

“Why create a coup when the end of his term nears unless the president will say something,” Benitez pointed out.

He said that none of the members of the Visayan Bloc support such plan to oust Cayetano.

Cayetano has an agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Alan Velasco of term sharing and that Velasco is set to take-over the Speakership this coming October.

Cayetano claimed he has verified information on a move to oust him from his post.

“Up to this day, I continue to honor the term-sharing agreement brokered by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte when the 18th Congress convened in July 2019. From the beginning, I never had any intention of reneging on this agreement,” he said. (TDE)