THE COLLEGE Editors Guild of the Philippines  backed calls to grant ABS-CBN a new franchise, a year after the National Telecommunications Commission shut down  the network.

CEGP said that because of the closure of the giant network, Filipinos lost access to crucial information.

“It is clear that the ABS-CBN shutdown was a result of Duterte’s political unfavor for the broadcasting giant. Instead of heeding the people’s demands in the middle of the pandemic, Duterte and his cronies went against the network by depriving many Filipinos of livelihood and right to information,” the group said in a statement.

It added that President Rodrigo Duterte had the “audacity” to release a statement proclaiming support for press freedom during the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day.

“For as long as his puppets continue committing atrocities against the press such as red-tagging, killings, and illegal arrests, Duterte will never be the champion of press freedom. Calling himself that is a disgrace to both professional and campus journalists who keep fighting for the freedom of the press,” CEGP said.

On May 5, 2020, the NTC ordered ABS-CBN to stop operating following the expiration of its legislative franchise on May 4, 2020.

On July 10, the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchise voted 70-11 against granting ABS-CBN a new franchise, saying the network committed numerous violations.

The CEGP said that the government’s denial of the network’s franchise is “an outright attack against the fourth estate.”

It called on journalists to unite against clear violations of press freedom and to continue exposing the truth.