Sen. Sotto files bill to renew ABS-CBN franchise

Senate President Vicente Sotto III has filed a resolution to renew the scuttled franchise of TV network ABS-CBN.

Sotto’s Senate Bill No. 1967, which cites the importance of TV as the top source of information in the country, aims to renew the network's franchise for 25 years.

“ABS-CBN’s wide reach to Filipinos, alongside the undeniable advantages of broadcast media relative to mass communication, definitely calls for the immediate renewal of the network’s franchise,” read the bill.

In July 2020, the House of Representatives committee on legislative franchise junked ABS-CBN’s petition to renew for another 25 years their franchise, which came on the heels of President Rodrigo Duterte's sustained condemnation of the network for supposedly treating him unfairly during the campaign, a claim the network has denied.

Sotto, a former actor, has previously expressed support for the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise extension.

ABS Franchise, bring it to the Senate, we will approve it!

— Tito Sotto (@sotto_tito) May 5, 2020