It was like letting lose a cat in a cage full of mice. No less than Senator Bong Go was moved by the Atenista English and grace of ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak to “appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte” to renew the network’s franchise “for the sake of its 11,000 workers”.
ABS-CBN, after all, is the Philippines’ biggest channel for Filipinos’ favourite Batang Yagit style entertainment. Producing these shows is their lucrative expertise. With the Senate set up as a stage for its performance before a national TV audience, ABS-CBN stepped up as the star of the show and the senators set up to play the suckers.
It is not a surprising result considering that Senator Grace Poe who headed the “inquiry” is, herself, a showbiz product and, more importantly, is both financially and emotionally invested in ABS-CBN on account of her father’s legacy being intimately intertwined with the company’s fortunes.
Filipinos should understand what really happened yesterday. There was no “aid of legislation” in that exercise. The Senate was conscripted into the service of ABS-CBN. Ironic, right? ABS-CBN claims it operates “in the service of the Filipino”. In the end, it put Filipinos’ representatives in the service of its corporate interests.
Webmaster of Get Real Philippines