“I think it is only fair, that we ask our colleagues who were here then and who are the most vocal now: What did you…
“I think it is only fair, that we ask our colleagues who were here then and who are the most vocal now: What did you do then? If you truly believe that this is an issue of press freedom, then why didn’t you speak up the way that you are doing now?”
Anakalusugan Partylist Rep. Mike Defensor posed these questions on Wednesday to his colleagues in the lower chamber who started blaming the House of Representatives after media giant ABS-CBN shut down its broadcast operations.
According to Defensor, bills seeking to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN were filed even in the previous administration and the previous Congress.
“This bill has been in Congress since 2014 during the time of Speaker [Sonny] Belmonte and President [Noynoy] Aquino,” Defensor said.
“Unfortunately, those who cry foul the hardest are those who were already members of Congress when ABS-CBN first applied for their renewal,” he said.
Defensor he pointed out that he, along with several other lawmakers, was not part of the House in the previous administration.
“It’s unfair for us 160 members who are new in Congress and who had noting to do with the more than six year that the application of ABS-CBN had been pending,” he said in Filipino.
