Legarda wants to revive state-run PTV-4

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda has filed a bill seeking to revive state-run television station PTV-4 by allowing it to generate revenues from advertising and airtime sales.

During the hearings of the Senate on the proposed P1.8-trillion national budget for 2012, Legarda said that PTV-4 is barely surviving on its meager resources, mostly brought about by its outdated charter.

She noted that under its 10-year-old charter, the television station is not allowed to receive commercial revenues.

“How then is it able to survive? We need to resuscitate our national television because it has a great potential, not for propaganda, but for information dissemination of the advocacies of our various departments of government,” Legarda said.

If passed into law, Senate Bill 2985 would allow the network to generate funds from advertising and airtime sales, that will be used solely for its operations and capital expenditure.

An initial capital infusion would also be given by the national government to jumpstart the rehabilitation of the network.

The bill would also give the network a free hand in coming up with other measures that will help restore the viability of its operations.

“I hope we can immediately pass this proposed measure. It’s a priority measure as agreed upon in the LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) and this is the national television station, it is inexcusable if we do not find ways to address the urgent need to regenerate and improve the information mechanisms of government,” Legarda said.

RPN employees’ concern

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro- Tempore Jinggoy Estrada called on the management of another state-run television station, RPN-9, to address the concerns raised by its employees regarding their compensation and other benefits.

Citing a letter sent by RPN-9 Directors and Supervisors Union president Raymon Tomale Jr. and RPN-9 Employees Union president

Freddie Muñoz, Estrada raised the concerns of the network’s employees during the hearing on the budget of the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

According to the union, around P100 million of accumulated benefits from their Collective Bargaining Agreement remain unpaid to the current RPN-9 employees since 2001.

This is on top of the P300 million in unpaid separation and retirement payments to the retired and resigned employees.

Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development and the Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment, expressed concern that these unsettled obligations would have a huge impact on the employees of RPN-9 as well as their dependents.