DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 01 March) – Eight of 46 members of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises are from Mindanao, one of them a vice chair.
The eight are Representatives Jose ”Pingping” Tejada, 3rd district of North Cotabato who is one of five committee vice chairs, and Members for the Majority: Claudine Diana Bautista of Dumper PTDA party-list (from Davao Occidental), Ann Hofer of the 2nd district of Zamboanga Sibugay, Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu of the 2nd district of Maguindanao, Jericho Nograles of the PBA party-list (from Davao City), Fredrick Siao of the lone district of Iligan City, Christian Unabia of the 1st district of Misamis Oriental and Divina Grace Yu of the 1st district of Zamboanga del Sur.
Mindanao has 60 congressional districts.
Five Mindanawons are principal authors or co-authors of four of the 14 pending bills on renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise.
The committee has yet to hear any of these bills. ABS-CBN’s franchise expires on March 30, 2020 but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra during the Senate hearing Monday, citing the publication in the Official Gazette on April 19, 1995 and the 15-day period, said its effectivity lapses on May 4, 2020.
HB 3064 filed by Nograles is the first bill in the 18th Congress on the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.
Nograles bill is for the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Convergence, Inc. (formerly Multi-Media Telephony) and has been pending with the Committee on Legislative Franchises (CLF) since August 15, 2019.
The bills filed by Representatives Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur), Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro), Bayan Muna’s Carlos Isagani Zarate (Davao City and General Santos) and Eufemia Cullama (Surigao del Sur), along with Ferdinand Gaite, France Castro and Sarah Jane Elago, are for the renewal of the franchise of the ABS-CBN Corporation (formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation).
Pimentel, along with Aurelio Gonzales, Jr. and Doy Leachon, filed HB5608 on November 25, 2019. The bill has been pending with the Committee on LF since November 27, 2019.
Rodriguez filed HB 5705 on December 4, 2019. The bill has been pending with the CLF since December 9, 2019.
Zarate, Cullamat and the other Makabayan bloc members filed HB 6052 on January 27, 2020. The bill has been pending with the CLF since February 3, 2020.
Committee on Legislative Franchises
The committee is chaired by Rep. Franz Alvarez of the 1st district of Palawan.
The four other vice chairs aside from Tejada are, Antonio Albano of the 1st district of Isabela, Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado of the 1st district of Bulacan, Faustino Michael Carlos Dy of the 5th district of Isabela, and Abraham Tolentino of the 8th district of Cavite
The 29 other members for the Majority, aside from the seven Mindanawon members earlier named, are Gil Acosta of the 3rd district of Palawan, Samantha Louise Vargas Alfonso of the 2nd district of Cagayan, Sol Aragones of the 3rd district of Laguna, Julienne Baronda of the lone district of Iloilo City, Precious Hipolito Castelo of the 2nd district of Quezon City, Joaquin Chipeco, Jr. of the lone district of Calamba, Anthony Peter Crisologo of the 1st district of Quezon City, Faustino Dy of the 6th district of Isabela, Ian Paul Dy of the 3rd district of Isabela, Luis Ferrer IV of the 6th district of Cavite, Alfredo Garbin, Jr. of the AKO BICOL party-list, Sharon Garin of the AAMBIS-OWA party-list, Weslie Gatchalian of the 1st district of Valenzuela City, Eduardo Gullas of the 1st district of Cebu, Edward Vera Perez Maceda of the 4th district of Manila, Eleandro Jesus Madrona of the lone district of Romblon, Dale Malapitan of the 1st district of Cavite, Eric Martinez of the 2nd district of Valenzuela, Eleandro Jesus Madrona of the lone district of Romblon, Raymond Democrito Mendoza of the TUCP party-list, John Marvin Nieto of the 3rd district of Manila, Enrico Pineda of the 1-PACMAN party-list, Strike Revilla of the 2nd district of Cavite, Yedda Marie Romualdez of Tingog Sinirangan party-list, Alyssa Sheen Tan of the 4th district of Isabela, Rolando Valeriano of the 2nd district of Manila, Alfred Vargas of the 5th district, Quezon City, Micaela Violago of the 2nd district of Nueva Ecija, Eric Go Yap of ACT-CIS party-list, and Cyrille Abueg-Zaldivar of the 2nd district of Palaawan,
Members for the Minority are Representatives Gabriel Bordado, Jr. of the 3rd district of Camarines Sur, Janette Garin of the 1st district of Iloilo, Stella Luz Quimbo of the 2nd district of Markina City and Arnolfo Teves of the 3rd district of Negros Oriental. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
