The panel said they have found sufficient grounds for the revocation of the network’s broadcast franchise.
On Tuesday, March 12, the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives heard for the sixth time since December the case against the alleged violations made by Swara Sug Media Corporation (SSMC) in its broadcast franchise.
SSMC is the owner and operator of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) television and radio stations across the country.
During the said hearing, lawmakers voted on the House Bill 9710 filed by 1-Rider partylist Rep. Ramon Gutierrez, which seeks to strip Swara Sug of its right to operate its free-to-air assets.
The said bill was then approved by Parañaque second district Rep. Gus Tambunting, who sits as the chairman of the committee.
According to the findings of the hearings, Swara Sug was said to have violated provisions of its franchise, which was renewed for another 25 years back in 2019.
In Section 4, it mandates Swara Sug and SMNI to provide balanced programming to its audience.
Section 10, meanwhile, stipulates that they must inquire the Congress whenever there are changes in the owners or other major movements in the company within sixty (60) days.
Finally, Section 11, which orders them to offer 30% of outstanding capital stock to the public.
At the moment, the SMNI network is not operating on its free-to-air platforms after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), in January, issued a cease-and-desist order while their pending case with the bureau is still under review.
The hearing on SMNI’s franchise began late last year after on-air allegations were made by ‘Laban Kasama ng Bayan’ hosts Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Badoy against House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
They alleged Romualdez used Php 1.8 billion as travel fund, which was later disproved by the House’s secretary-general.
QUIBOLOY
During the hearing, and before the motion to approve the bill was passed, Surigao del Sur second district Rep. Johnny Pimentel cited Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in-contempt.
This is over the repeated non-appearance of the beleaguered figure, who is currently facing raps in his personal capacity over allegations of rape and other crimes both in the Philippines, as well as in the United States.
To date, Quiboloy had been given separate subpoenas by both the lower and upper chambers of the House.
The House of Representatives issued him one last month due to his failure to attend proceedings regarding the SMNI franchise case.
Over at the Senate, the committee on women and gender equality served him the other as he has snubbed the investigation of the panel over alleged sex offenses — including rape — done by him, as well as leaders of his church Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).
The Department of Justice has also since directed the filing of a child abuse case against Quiboloy. The agency also issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) versus the pastor.
These are all on top of his existing cases in the United States, which has since led to US Executive Order (EO) No. 13818.
This EO sanctions Quiboloy for “his connection to serious human rights abuse,” with it taking effect in December 2022 and caused the repeated deletion of his accounts on social platforms like Google/YouTube and Facebook.
Prior to that, the controversial church figure has also been issued a federal warrant of arrest in 2021 after being charged for a list of cases, which includes sex trafficking and bulk cash smuggling to the USA.
At the moment, the Philippines Justice Department said that they have not yet received any extradition requests from their US counterparts over Quiboloy.