MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN Corp.’s now-expired legislative franchise for being moot.
In an en banc session, SC justices moved to dismiss Calida’s petition he filed in February to ask the tribunal to revoke the media giant’s franchise due to alleged violations of its legislative franchise, “on ground of mootness,” SC spokesperson Brian Hosaka confirmed.
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ABS-CBN’s franchise however expired on May 4, while Calida’s plea remained pending before the SC.
READ: Point by point: ABS-CBN answers Solgen Calida's quo warranto petition
Hosaka, however, said that Calida’s quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN Convergence, a subsidiary of the network giant, remains. The company however issued a disclosure at the Philippine Stock Exchange saying that Convergence’s legislative franchise expired on March 17.
ABS-CBN's petition for certiorari unaffected
The broadcast company has since shut its operations in compliance with the National Telecommunications Commission’s cease and desist order following the franchise expiry.
It was later revealed, in an ABS-CBN exclusive report, that Calida wrote to NTC to “advise” it that a “provisional authority cannot be issued in the absence of a law.”
ABS-CBN ran to the high court to ask for a temporary restraining order against the implementation of NTC’s order, which would supposedly allow the network to resume on air operations.
The embattled media giant also said asked the SC to issue a permanent injunction against the assailed CDO.
The action on Calida’s quo warranto does not affect ABS-CBN’s separate petition, which is due to be tackled again by the justices on July 13.
By then, ABS-CBN would have been shut for more than two months. The network earlier said they might be forced to let go of some of their employees in August if they would not be allowed to resume operations immediately.
Deliberations on several of ABS-CBN’s franchise bills meanwhile continue at the House of Representatives, even while Congress is on break. At least three hearings, however, were spent on discussing the nationality of ABS-CBN Chairman Emeritus Gabby Lopez, whose dual citizenship is allowed by law.
A hearing set for June 23 was postponed for next week, as hearings for this week were postponed to June 29 to allow ABS-CBN and other agencies more time to file documents, and for lawmakers to study them.