Charles Teves
People have been withdrawing their support for Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano after his flip-flopping comments on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal issue.
The lawmaker sided with the current administration’s stance on the issue which President Rodrigo Duterte made known when he said that he will see to it that the company will not be given a new franchise on numerous occasions.
But Cayetano then promised that Congress will grant a new franchise after Duterte accepted ABS-CBN’s apology for not airing his presidential ads back in 2016, even saying that he will not interfere in the renewal process.
70 lawmakers voted YES to deny ABS-CBN a franchise, ultimately killing the application. The Filipino people were and still in an outrage urging the public to not vote for the representatives in the coming election.
Cayetano had to defend his colleagues which came in the form of a Facebook post. He basically said that the death of ABS-CBN’s application was ‘an end to the privilege of one family,’
Actor Enchong Dee said he regrets ever supporting Cayetano and his siblings after the lawmaker’s defense of Congress’ decision.
Enchong tweeted ‘I used to admire these people…’
I used to admire these people… https://t.co/D36AFg9qS4
— Enchong Dee (@enchongdee777) July 14, 2020
“We simply put an end to the privilege of one family in using a public resource to protect and promote their private interest was part of the changes that the Duterte administration has vowed to bring to the country,” Cayetano said.
“President Duterte, despite all the roadblocks that have been thrown at him by his critics, has been largely successful in leveling the playing field. He has called out those who abuse the system and has held them accountable on a scale that has never been seen before.
“By loosening the grip of the oligarchs on the vital socio-economic interests that run our country, he has revitalized a citizenry that has become jaded with the empty promises of politicians,” he said.
Cayetano added that the killing of the franchise application was “simply part of this season’s uprooting of the weeds and a reclaiming [of] our patrimony from the oligarchs.”
Duterte himself said on Tuesday in a speech before troops in Jolo, Sulu that he will have no problem dying anytime as he “dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy of the Filipino people.”
“Sinira ko ‘yung mga tao na humahawak sa ekonomiya at umiipit. At hindi nagbabayad,” the president said.
Although he did not indicate which family he was referring to, people think it is the Lopezes.
Filipinos were really surprised with Cayetano’s stance on the ABS-CBN franchise issue, as his family benefited significantly from the company.
Netizen and Kaya Natin! Movement convenor Harvey Keh previously said that ABS-CBN made it possible for Cayetano to be in politics.
Senator Rene Cayetano, the lawmaker’s late father, was given a platform on ABS-CBN that gave him an advantage over other politicians which also gave his children the exposure needed to further their political careers.
DZMM’s Companero y Companera segment in Gel Santos Relos Reports radio program paved the way for Rene Cayetano’s media popularity. It then gave birth to the ABS-CBN legal talk show Companero y Companera in 1997 which became a larger springboard of the Cayetano clan into the world of politics.
Maalaala Mo Kaya did a special on the late senator back in 2010. Cayetano himself was also a guest on Gandang Gabi Vice in 2013 when he was a re-electionist senator.
