MANILA – The measures pushing for economic Charter Change and revoking the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp. which operates Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) is not a priority for the Senate.
According to Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, the Senate has its own schedule with regards to tackling its version of the Resolution of Both Houses on the adoption of amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“We have our own schedule. We’ve announced our schedule. We mentioned it maybe once or thrice already. There [are] no changes,” Angara said. “We’re moving fast but it’s not our only priority.”
Angara, who leads the subcommittee deliberations of RBH No. 6 in the Senate, mentioned that the plan was for RBH No. 6 to be sponsored in the plenary before the State of the Nation Address.
The statement of Angara came after some members of the House of Representatives have urged the Senate to advance the economic chacha measure.
The House on Wednesday has approved on third and final reading Resolution of Both Houses No. 7, which aims to amend the 1987 Constitution by lifting the 40% limit on foreign ownership of public utilities, education and advertising sectors.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe stated that the measure revoking the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp. should undergo “utmost study and scrutiny” by the Senate since it could set a precedent for future legislative franchises.
Poe said her Senate Committee on Public Services is to be guided by the principle that a franchise is a privilege and that grantees should always abide by the tenets of fairness and public welfare when the bill is tackled.
“To my knowledge, this is the first instance that a proposal for a franchise revocation has made significant progress in Congress,” Poe said in an interview with GMA News Online. “No franchise bill has ever been listed as a priority so I defer to the leadership as to the pace of its disposition.”
“We have always taken into consideration the other Chamber’s priorities but the Senate has never been in the tradition of railroading any measure. All bills are thoroughly debated and major stakeholders are respectfully consulted without exception,” she added.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading House Bill 9710, which revokes Swara Sug’s franchise due to alleged willful dissemination of false information and transfer of ownership without congressional approval, among others./PN
