17 senators are “sympathizers” of ABS-CBN - Zubiri

The clock is ticking for the beleaguered tv network ABS-CBN on two fronts, 1 – its legislative franchise to operate will expire come March 20 , and 2 – the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) just filed a quo warranto petition calling for the termination of ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise.

From all sectors of society have made their opinions know, some are for the renewal of the franchise and some are for the giant tv networks shutdown.

In Congress where there are bills pending calling for the move to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise there seems to be no movement, as of presstime there are no known schedule to tackle the said bills in the committee level.

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri
(photo credit to owner)

As for the Senate it’s a different story according to Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri, he has made a headcount of those senators who are willing to renew ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise – atleast 17 senators are for the renewal.

“Nag headcount na ako, ang bilang ko mga  17 senators,”  Zubiri said.

(I made a headcount, I counted 17 senators)

“It’s a majority. I  can’t give you the exact number but on my headcount, majority support it. I don’t think it will have a difficult time here in the Senate,”  he added.

Senators would not be able to vote on  ABS-CBN’s franchise until a bill seeking to extend it for another 25 years has been approved by the House of Representatives and eventually transmitted to the Senate.

The franchise bill, however, remains pending at the lower chamber.

Zubiri said many senators are “sympathizers” of ABS-CBN.

Among them, he said, are Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III,   Senators  Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, and Grace Poe,  head of the Senate committee on public services, and Sonny Angara.

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Report from Philstar

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