Veteran journalist Jay Sonza revealed a surprising claim about his former network ABS-CBN amid the franchise issue being faced by the said broadcasting company.
In an interview with ‘Tambayan sa DWIZ’ Sonza said that ABS-CBN has the ability to control the opinion of the public as he mentioned the case of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada who was ousted in the second EDSA revolution in 2001.
According to Sonza, a holding firm that is controlled by the Lopez Group wanted to get foreign funding for the modernization and expansion of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) that’s why they asked former President Estrada to sign a sovereign guarantee.
The sovereign guarantee is an assurance that the government is going to shoulder the debt of the lender if they cannot pay back the money they borrowed anymore.
Sonza claimed that Erap didn’t sign the sovereign guarantee, that’s why the Lopez group started to launch a campaign against the former President.
“Kailangan nila ng foreign funding para sa maintenance, expansion at modernization… eh hindi sila makakuha ng funding ng walang sovereign guarantee, so pinipilit nila ngayong pumirma si Erap ng sovereign guarantee,” Sonza said.
“Edi inumpisahan nila si Erap hanggang matangal,” he added.
The CEO of ABS-CBN even ordered not to stop the campaign against Estrada until he’s not getting crushed.
“Ang instruction lang ni Gabby (Lopez) ‘ wag niyong tatantanan hangga’t hindi ninyo napupulbos (si Erap)’” he said.
The veteran journalist recounted that he tried to expose the said issue in public, however, some lawmakers during that time didn’t give him a chance to speak about it.
Sonza also said that he witnessed how some politicians received a bribe from ABS-CBN representatives.
He claimed that when he started mentioning names, the lawmakers didn’t continue their investigation anymore as some of them are included in the list.
From 1986-1996, Sonza worked as a journalist in ABS-CBN.