President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday renewed his threat to object to the renewal of ABS-CBN鈥檚 franchise, which will expire in 2020.
The President made the warning after accusing the television network of not airing his campaign ad that was already paid during the 2016 presidential election.
鈥淜alakas ng loob鈥� mukhang marami kami sila Chiz Escudero, tanggap nang tanggap. Niloko ninyo kami, marami hindi lang ako kaya kayo hindi ko kayo palusutin,鈥� Duterte said in his speech during the distribution of land to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Boracay.
鈥溾�榊ung franchise ninyo matatapos na, but let me ask you [the] questions first, kasi ako talagang mag-object na ma-renew kayo,鈥� he stressed.
Duterte also revealed that the television giant offered to return his payment but he refused to accept it because it was made after the election.
鈥淭hey offered to pay and I refused to accept it because it was returned to me鈥� proposed to return the money was too late after the election,鈥� Duterte told reporters after the ceremony.
鈥淲hen you do that to many people, it鈥檚 fraud. You鈥檙e actually a fraud when you actually received money and you don鈥檛 come up with your part in the bargain,鈥� he added.
Duterte has repeatedly criticized ABS-CBN for the network鈥檚 alleged biased reporting, including his supposed ill-gotten wealth and his controversial war on illegal drugs.
ABS-CBN鈥檚 franchise will expire on March 30, 2020 and its renewal remains pending in Congress.
In April last year, when Duterte first blasted the network, the owner of ABS-CBN Corp. brushed aside the President鈥檚 criticism of bias against the media giant, saying it came with the territory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 part and parcel of our work being a media institution,鈥� Eugenio 鈥淕abby鈥� L. Lopez III, ABS-CBN chair, told a worried shareholder during the company鈥檚 annual meeting on April 27, 2017.
鈥淟et me just say, we have not yet encountered an administration that at one point or another had not had some issue with the media in general, and ABS-CBN in particular,鈥� Lopez said.