Almost five years since the network was shut down.
On Tuesday, January 7, Albay Representative Joey Salceda filed House Bill No. 11252, an act seeking the grant of a new legislative franchise to operate free-to-air television and radio networks for ABS-CBN Corporation.
In his explanatory note, Salceda noted that during the deliberation of the House commitees in the previous Congress, both the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) certified the compliance of the Kapamilya network.
“…the franchise grantee [ABS-CBN] did not violate ownership restrictions and did not have pending tax liabilities,” he wrote.
Additionally, the non-renewal of the franchise cost many of the 11,000 direct jobs.
“This representation also argued the information asymmetries that resulted from the loss of an information source caused thousands of new COVID-19 infections during the critical 2020 period.”
Salceda also noted, “some 36% of Filipinos consumed their news and entertainment from the channel,” thanks to the extensive regional network.
This wide reach, he said, was also crucial to the public, as these stations served as source for news and updates on impending disasters. Crucially, these were also part of the disaster risk reduction strategies at the local level.
“Given the merits of renewing the franchise, as well as the clarification made by government agencies over certain allegations against the grantee [ABS-CBN], this representation urges Congress to reconsider the non-renewal of the franchise by the previous Congress.”
Apart from Salceda’s manifestation, there are already four separate bills aiming to revive ABS-CBN’s franchise in the 19th Congress, which only has few weeks left before it ends its session for the 2025 midterm polls.
Currently, none of those have been acted upon by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN has issued its statement about the matter.
While we were not aware of Rep. Joey Salceda’s filing of a bill to grant a broadcast franchise to ABS-CBN today, we are deeply grateful for his support and belief in ABS-CBN’s contributions and mission to serve the Filipino public.
We would also like to express our sincerest thanks to Reps. Gabriel Bordado Jr., Arlene Brosas, France Castro, Raoul Manuel, Johnny Pimentel, and Rufus Rodriguez, who have previously filed similar bills.
ABS-CBN was the Philippines’ largest network prior to its 2020 shutdown, having established over 80 television and radio stations across the country in the past three decades.
On May 5, 2020, following the expiration of their 1995 franchise to operate the day before, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) handed ABS-CBN a cease-and-desist order (CDO).
It was two months later, on July 10, when the House of Representatives voted to reject the renewal of its franchise.
As a result, more than half of its workforce were retrenched on August 31, 2020, mainly from their Current Affairs and Sports departments, and other subsidiaries.
After that, the NTC recalled the frequencies ABS-CBN once operated, and as of 2025, had already awarded the prized jewel Mega Manila VHF Channel 2 to Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS) or ALLTV of former politician Manny Villar.
In 2024, ABS-CBN was rumored to have applied for a new legislative franchise, but the company clarified in its statement then that it was no longer actively seeking to get a Congressional license.
“ABS-CBN Corporation disposed of assets that the company no longer needed to various broadcasting networks after we ceased operations as a broadcasting company.”
“It is not true that ABS-CBN is applying for a new franchise nor does it intend to buy back any of the assets it sold,” the former leading television network added back then.
Since the shutdown, the Kapamilya network had largely pivoted into becoming a content production powerhouse, with their shows now streaming online and airing on erstwhile rival stations TV5, GMA, as well as A2Z channel on free-to-air television.