Legal
luminaries in the country are all being sought about their opinion/stand as
regards what is happening to ABS-CBN, and everyone is giving them for the sake
of conversation and not to break the time honored rule “sub judice” of the
Supreme Court.
The
latest to join the conversation is retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban and he is of the opinion that the petition filed against the
tv network by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) was improper and that
there were other remedies available to the network.
Panganiban reiterates that Congress has the power to review
the franchise renewal, but not the high court via a quo warranto
proceeding.
former chief justice Artemio Panganiban (photo credit to owner) |
“Congress can say we will revoke your franchise because you violated the terms of franchise. The revocation must be the violation of the terms and conditions because the franchise has certain conditions,”
The former chief justice points out that under the exhaustion
of administrative remedies rule, complaints against ABS-CBN could be
filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in cases of questionable
Philippine Depositary Receipts(PDRs) and at the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) if there were violations on its use of airwaves.
Panganiban is of the opinion that there are issues better
resolved in the lower courts and not outright in the High Court.
He said the Supreme Court had already ruled that
factual issues must be resolved by a lower court or by the proper
administrative agencies.
“There are many issues of facts, which were
brought up which cannot be decided without first being resolved, and the
Supreme Court has said many times…the latest of which is in Gios Samar vs DoTC
(Department of Transportation and Communication), where the court expressly
said that when there are issues of facts the court cannot take them up and must
dismiss the case even if the reason for them is transcendental importance,”
Panganiban stressed.
The former chief justice differentiates the two cases wherein
the OSG filed a quo warranto petition:
The quo warranto petition filed against former chief justice
Maria Lourdes Sereno is different from quo warranto filed by Solicitor General
Jose Calida with respect to ABS-CBN.
The former case involves the violations before Sereno
became a magistrate of the high court until she became chief justice
because of her non-filing of her Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net
Worth, while the ABS-CBN case involves alleged violations committed after the
franchise was given to the company.
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Report from Manila Times
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