ABS-CBN’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Karlo Katigbak apologized to President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to air his political ads in 2016.
Katibak made the said statement after Senator Christopher “Bong” Go’s opening statement which asking the broadcasting company why they prioritized airing the ads that made against President Duterte.
The CEO of ABS-CBN explained that there are two kinds of political ads that being paid by the candidates, first is the national ads and the second is the local ads.
According to Katigbak, they aired all the advertisements ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte for the national category which costs P117-M.
However, they admitted that out of the P65-M pesos worth of local ads, 7-M worth was not aired because they’re following a “first come, first serve” policy.
Katigbak also recounted that they rejected the first version of the anti-Duterte ad because the children featured in the commercial are doing inappropriate actions and behaviors.
However, they approved the second version of the commercial because they found the children only asking questions about President Duterte’s behavior.
He then pointed out that under the code of Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) they’re required not to reject any candidate’s ad.
“In other words, any candidate who comes to our station with an ad that is legal and legitimate must be accommodated,” Katigbak said.
He then clarified that the anti-Duterte ad belonged to the national category that’s why they aired it.
Katigbak also said that they’re not meant to hurt President Duterte’s feeling during the election period.
“We were sorry if we offended the President. We felt that we are just abiding with the laws and regulations that surround the airing of political ads,” Katigbak said.
“ABS (CBN) does not and will not have its own political agenda,” he added.
One week before the 2016 presidential election, the nation was surprised when ABS-CBN aired an advertisement showing children asking the morality of one of the candidates during that time, former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
“Tama po bang murahin ang Santo Papa?” “Ituro niyo po sa amin ang tama,” “Mali po ang mambastos ng mga babae,” these are what the children said in the advertisement while showing the controversial clips of Duterte.
ABS-CBN already defended the airing of the ad in 2016.
“Prior to the airing, ABS-CBN’s ethics committee reviewed the content of the material, which complies with the requirements of the pertinent election laws,” the ABS-CBN said in their statement.
A Youtuber also published the rejected version of the anti-Duterte ad.
The said ads are one of the sources of President Duterte’s anger towards ABS-CBN.