Coverage pullout big loss for ‘13’

International Broadcasting Corp. (IBC)-13 board chairman Lincoln Tan Jr. warned yesterday the sequestered TV station would stand to lose as much as P28 million more with the management’s decision cutting off the airing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games effective last Oct. 29.

Tan said the P28 million lost revenues would add to the existing P40 million losses of IBC-13 by the end of this year. This would severely affect the financial viability of the sequestered TV station supposed to be protected by the government.

For this reason, Tan explained, he abstained from the Oct. 29 decision of the IBC-13 board of directors to abrogate the contract with Summit Sports World Inc., the marketing arm of the PBA games.

In an exclusive interview with The STAR yesterday, Tan confirmed that the decision of the IBC-13 board of directors was carried out on the motion initiated by Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) commissioner Ruben Carranza.

This was first reported in a memorandum sent to Press Secretary Milton Alingod by Roberto "Bob" del Rosario, IBC-13 vice president for operations.

Alingod started over the weekend his inquiry into IBC-13’s sudden pullout from the PBA coverage -- which was among the issues that led to the mass resignation of the nine-man board of the sequestered TV station.

The Office of the Secretary (OPS) exercises oversight functions over the sequestered media entities of the PCGG.

Tan and the rest of the IBC-13 board are all appointees of President Arroyo who nominated them to this sequestered TV station as PCGG fiscal agents.

Alingod earlier said the voluntary resignation of the IBC-13 board members was being "held in abeyance" pending the completion of the inquiry he is conducting on the charges and counter-charges by the parties concerned in the board intramurals at the sequestered TV station.

Carranza, who sits for the PCGG at IBC-13, along with five other board members, voted to cut off the airing of the PBA games following the failure of Summit Sports to remit P70 million in earnings due the IBC-13.

Tan cited the contract of Summit Sports with IBC-13 for the "block time" airing of the PBA games was entered into "at no risk" to the sequestered TV station in December 2002 during the time of Dante Ang, the former chief publicist of President Arroyo, who was then the IBC-13 board chairman.

Tan, a protégé of Ang, was then the president and chief operating officer of Channel 9, another PCGG sequestered TV station.

"It was a very good deal for IBC-13 which has no risk exposure and even got to air the PBA games at much higher block time price of P270,000 per hour," Tan cited.

Normally, Tan said, block time spots at IBC-13 are priced from P160,000 to P170,000 per hour only.

"I just inherited this contract which had the majority approval by the previous IBC-13 board. So when I came in January, this year, I merely executed the board decision," Tan said.

But even before the execution of the contract started last February, Tan said, Carranza insisted on abrogating the contract in which, he said, the PCGG commissioner was part of the decision-making of the previous IBC-13 board.

Tan expressed surprise why Carranza was using the issue of un-remitted earnings of P70 million by Summit Sports to cut off the PBA games when there were also block timers which owe them much bigger amounts, like the P120 million of unpaid bills by Viva Films.

"I’m afraid IBC-13 employees’  union would be dismayed to know that there would be no more money for the company now that the board cut off the PBA games contract in Channel 13," Tan rued.

"I guess the employees’ union has to ask commissioner Carranza where to get the lost money for IBC-13 because of his insistence to cut off this PBA games contract," he said.

Industry sources told The STAR that IBC-13 was on the losing end of a long-standing feud between Carranza and Ang over the controversial "coco levy" case.

The sources noted PCGG commissioner has an axe to grind against Ang, who last year tried to broker a compromise agreement on the resolution of the long-pending court battle between the government and businessman Eduardo "Danding " Cojuangco Jr.

Ang’s negotiations, reportedly with the blessings of Mrs. Arroyo, however, fell through due to vehement objections by the PCGG.

After leaving the Arroyo administration, Ang has spent his time as publisher of the Manila Times.