Will ABS-CBN rise again?

By Herbert Vego

 

NOW trending on social media is a video-taped radio broadcast of a former ABS-CBN radio block timer, Waldy Carbonel, pinpointing President Rodrigo as the “boss” who had ordered the House committee on franchises to junk the application of ABS-CBN radio-TV network for a new 25-year franchise.

Who can argue with that? It has been seven months and three weeks since December 3, 2019 when Duterte bared his intention to the management: “Your franchise will end next year. If you expect it to be renewed, I’m sorry. I will see to it that you’re out.”

But it’s only Carbonel who boldly interpreted the Malacañang-Congress collusion as a move to turn over the vacated franchise to a Davao-based Chinese group under the corporate name Dragon Broadcasting Network. He just failed to name the new “oligarch”.

Of course, only time will tell whether the brave old Waldy is right. A “dragon” could transform into a “gecko” if that oligarch changes his mind to refute Carbonel’s tsismis.

But who could forget Carbonel as the man who made headlines here and abroad?

There was a time when a mayor challenged Waldy Carbonnel to a duel in front of city hall for spreading insinuation on the unsolved murder of broadcaster Jun Porras Pala, bragging that he would only have two bullets in his pistol while Carbonnel could bring two full magazines for his weapon. Carbonnel showed up, but not even the challenger’s shadow did so.

It was just over a year ago on July 1, 2019 when Carbonel burned the China flag in front of the Chinese embassy in Manila to protest Beijing’s encroachment on Philippine territories at the West Philippine Sea.

Given a jet ski, he could have done the act all the way to the Spratlys.

-oOo-

Some congressmen can’t stop pleasing Duterte for whatever reason. One of them is House Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur, who still faces an Ombudsman probe over an alleged misuse of P24.75 million funds donated to a non-governmental organization between 2004 and 2005 when he was governor.

It was Villafuerte who recently repeated the President’s “advise” to the Lopez family to “just sell ABS-CBN if you really care for its 11,000 employees” who would be laid off in August. He was cocksure the successful buyer would be granted a legislative franchise.

If these 70 congressmen who voted to junk ABS-CBN application for renewal of franchise think the Lopezes would be compelled to sell, or otherwise lose their multi-billion business forever, they are wrong. They would prefer a repetition of history rather than yield.

The Lopezes – proud to be Ilonggos — had resisted the same pressure despite their financial losses when President Marcos declared martial law in 1972. And yet the network bounced back stronger following the EDSA Revolution in 1986.

As the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez would have sung once more, “I believe I can fly.”

Of course, she also believes walang ruler na forever; may ro’n na haanggang 12 inches lang.

-oOo-

MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) as the new power distributor in Iloilo City is definitely succeeding where its predecessor, Panay Electric Co. (PECO) had failed. It’s in its intensive drive against power thieves.

In its time, PECO had never been serious in catching them. On the contrary, its linemen had colluded with the thieves by installing a device known as “jumper,” which diverted power consumption to systems loss, chargeable to honest customers. This way, the thieves only paid a fixed pre-agreed amount to the corrupt linemen.

PECO’s people reasoned out that they did not have the manpower to monitor “jumpers”. But it could have been an alibi, since they did not stand to lose from the practice.

This time, MORE Power is leaving no stone unturned in its anti-pilferage campaign. It has sought the cooperation of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) to bag the thieves and charge them with violation of Republic Act 7832, otherwise known as the Anti-Pilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994.

According to our friend Jose Ariel “Aye” Castañeda, project manager of MORE Power I-Konek Task Force, seven violators had already been arrested and would be charged in court.

If convicted, they could be imprisoned for 12 to 20 years and/or made to pay a fine ranging from P50,000 to P100,000.00.

Some 400 jumpers have been disconnected in 17 barangays of Iloilo in only three weeks.

Congrats, Aye.

-oOo-

While writing this yesterday, I received a news clipping from my friend Jun Aguilar of Hayward, California. It was about a man who had died in a traffic accident in Orange County, Florida but was officially reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) as a COVID-19 victim.

The Orange County Health Officer, Dr. Raul Pino, expressed alarm that such a false reportage could have been intentional.

Well, there have been insinuations about “collusion” between the Communist Party of China and the leadership of WHO, allegedly aimed at scaring people and consequently flattening …– no, not the curve but the world economy.

The most recent “coverup” information was disclosed by Hong Kong virologist Yan Li-Meng who fled to the U.S. fearing for her life. She told Fox News that the pandemic could have been prevented had the Chinese government raised the alarm over the novel coronavirus early enough.