Binay lauds ABS-CBN resilience despite the odds: ‘We defend freedom by living it’

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay is in awe of the resilience of the men and women of ABS-CBN a year after the Duterte administration killed its franchise.

Binay said while the tv station lost its franchise bid due to the administration’s bullying, the network personnel continued to perform their duty to report the news.

“The network may be off the air as a result of this administration’s raw display of bullying. But one year after a House committee killed its franchise bid, the men and women of ABS-CBN continue to report the news despite the odds. And journalists from other media entities pursue their work even in the face of intimidation and overt acts of violence,” he said.

Binay, a human rights lawyer during the marital law regime, remembered the lessons of the dark rule especially in protecting the country’s cherish freedom.

“If there is one thing I learned during martial law, it is that no power can take away our freedom unless we surrender it willingly. We defend freedom by living it,” he said.

Binay hopes the network will get a new franchise but admitted this seems unlikely under the Duterte administration. The administration seemed to intolerant of criticisms and press freedom, he said.

“The closure of ABS-CBN is an injustice that can only be remedied by the grant of a new franchise. But that will not happen under the present dispensation, or under a new one that is similarly intolerant of criticism and the exercise of Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms,” he said.

The Lopez-owned broadcast firm went off the air last year after it was unable to renew it franchise. President Duterte previously openly campaigned against the franchise renewal of the network, which he criticized for alleged bias against his government.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)