Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked Senator Sonny Angara to show respect to the other television networks like GMA and TV5 after the closure of ABS-CBN.

During the Senate Session on May 5, Angara criticized the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for ordering ABS-CBN to close down.

According to Angara, the move of the NTC was against the Resolution 40 filed by the Senate asking the commission to give “provisional authority” to ABS-CBN to operate until May 4, 2020 to June 30, 2022.

“I just got the news that NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN in contravention of the resolution passed by both houses of Congress, last March 11, that was our last big session before we vote for the recess, I think that was the day when the majority leader (Miguel Zubiri) infected me with the virus,” Angara who’s a COVID-19 survivor said.

Angara pointed out the importance of ABS-CBN especially during the COVID-19 crisis in the country.

“I just want to express my reservations regarding this because in the time of the virus people need to be informed by reliable sources, this is the time when we need reliable information and we decide to shut down one of the sources that are practically in the houses of every Filipino,” the Senator said.

“So where is the Filipinos gonna get this news now? From the internet where there’s a lot of fake news? From text where there’s a lot of spam text? Well, it is very disappointing on the part of NTC,” he added.

Sotto then responded to Angara, saying that the latter sounded that only ABS-CBN has the ability to deliver reliable news to the Filipinos.

“We do understand the point of Senator Angara, but perhaps we should give due respect to channel 7 and channel 5, it sounded like it’s (ABS-CBN) the only station that we can get our news from,” the Senate President said.

Senator Sonny’s wife, Elvira “Tootsy” Angara is one of the high-ranking official of ABS-CBN, working as an executive in the sales department of the television network.

On May 5, ABS-CBN was forced to sign off to comply with the cease and desist order by NTC against them.

Most of the Senators supported the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN and even asked NTC to allow the network to operate while the Congress is discussing the issues being faced by the television network giant.

Television host Bianca Gonzales shared the good news to the employees of ABS-CBN after the sudden closure of the Kapamilya network due to the orders of the National Telecommunications Commission.

On her Facebook post, Gonzalez revealed that despite being forced to shut down, the management of ABS-CBN vowed to continue paying their employees for the next three months.

“Our bosses in a live chat with employees after broadcast ended: For the next three months, wala pong mawawalan ng trabaho due to retrenchment. Active ang lahat ng benefits, including medical, sa panahon na ito,” Gonzalez said.

“Never been prouder to be a Kapamilya,” she added.

The post of Gonzalez has gone viral on social media and some of the people who saw the tweet of the television host are relatives of some contractual employees of ABS-CBN.

According to them, they’re hoping that the contractual employees of ABS-CBN are also included in the plan of the network’s management.

Netizen @REALPrinceJoson told Gonzales that his stepfather is working for the Kapamilya network for 17 years already, but until now he’s still not a regular employee of ABS-CBN.

He’s hoping that his father was included to the people that would receive aid from the network.

“Hello Ms. @iamsuperbianca , my step father is working for ABS-CBN under Star Cinema. Almost 17 years na siya as Generator/Mechanic/Driver. Sa loob ng long period of time hindi parin siya nareregular ng ABS-CBN (17YEARS). 1/2,” Prince Joson said.

“Sa totoo lang po hindi lang naman po si ABS-CBN ang may ganyang practice. Marami pong ibang malalaki pang kumpanya sa hindi nagreregular sa mga empleyado nila or contractual kung tawagin. Sana po huwag nilang kalimutan ang mga maliliit nilang mangagawa at ituloy parin ang sahod,” he added.

Another follower of Gonzalez, @arien0425 told the television host that her father was working as a crowd control for ABS-CBN, however he never got a single centavo from the network amid the enhanced community quarantine being implemented by the government.

“Sana po kasama yung mga crew na no work no pay, my father is a crowd control and he never got a single centavo from the network during the past month They only got a P1500 that was given from some of the artist last week, more than a month after the quarantine,” @arien0425 tweeted.

Meanwhile, another employee of ABS-CBN told Gonzales that the television host should not share information about the live chat.

“Hi Ms. Bianca! I hope you notice me. I’m an employee of ABS, too. I also watched the Chat with MLL and CLK. As far as I know, per Sir Robert Labayen, the discussion was for employees only and di pwede irecord/ilabas. Thank you po!” she said.

To prove her claims, she even posted a clip from the video teleconference.

As of writing, the post of Gonzalez already reached 77,600 likes on Twitter.

Former Vice President and veteran ABS-CBN journalist Noli De Castro made an emotional farewell message to the fans of the Kapamilya network.

De Castro who led the last episode of TV patrol after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered ABS-CBN to shut down their operations said that they’re thankful for the support they received from the Filipino people for many decades.

“Karangalan po namin na maging tagapag-lahad ng inyong mga kwento, at taga bantay sa mga nasa kapangyarihan, karangalan po namin na mag lingkod sa inyo kabayan,” De Castro said.

According to him, despite being forced to close down, ABS-CBN reporters including him would not be silenced by the said attempt against the freedom of the press and democracy.

“Hindi man na-renew ang aming prangkisa, at ipinatitigil ang aming broadcast, nangangako po kami sa inyo na hindi kami mananahimik sa pag atakeng ito sa ating demokrasya at sa malayang pamamahayag,” the veteran journalist stated.

“Sa pinakamalaking dagok at hamon sa aming kumpanya at sa mga aming hanapbuhay, hinding hindi namin kayo tatalikuran kabayan, mga kapamilya kami, tayo ang ABS-CBN, in the service of the Filipino people, saan man sila naroroon sa buong mundo,” he added.

The #NoToABSCBNShutDown became the most talked topic on Twitter, reaching 430,000 tweets as of writing.

On May 5, NTC issued a Cease and Desist Order against ABS-CBN after its 25-year franchise expired on May 4.

“The NTC Regional Offices shall implement the closure order in their respective areas of jurisdiction,” NTC said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives warned NTC that they might face contempt for ordering the closure of ABS-CBN.

“With the legal opinion of the Department of Justice and the authority given by the House of Representatives, there is no reason for ABS-CBN to discontinue or stop their operations until we make a final decision,” Rep. Franz Alvarez said in a statement.

“If the NTC chooses to succumb to the pressure of the Solicitor General, and disregard the commitments they gave under oath, we reserve the right to call them before Congress and explain why they should not be held in contempt,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to reward anyone that would give vital information to caught barangay officials or other workers of local government unit allegedly corrupting the funds being used for the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) of the government.

During the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte offered 30,000 to people that would help the national government to catch corrupt public officials.

“Siya po ay magbibigay ng pabuya na 30,000 pesos sa lahat ng po ng mga mag rereport ng local officials na kumakana o kinukurakot ang mga ayuda para sa mahihirap,” Roque said.

People should contact the 24/7 national public service of the government hotline 8888 if they have information about the suspected local officials.

During the meeting, Duterte also cursed at a barangay local officials for being caught corrupting the funds for the SAP.

“Sinabi ko na sa kanila na kung may gagawin sila, wag sa panahon ngayon,” Duterte said.

He also urged the Mayors to look at the people they trusted to distribute the financial aid to their constituents.

Journalist Jay Sonza couldn’t hide his disappointment after hearing the news that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) were mandated to contribute 3% of their monthly salary to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Under PhilHealth Circular No. 2020-0014, OFWs with income of 10,000 to 20,000 will be required to pay 3 percent of their monthly salary.

Sonza addressed President Rodrigo Duterte, asking why OFWs were mandated to give the 3% of their monthly salaries while their relatives in the Philippines were disqualified from the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) of the government.

“Sa SAP disqualified ang pamilyang may abroad, pero kaltas OFW PhilHealth mandatory increase. Ano ba naman iyan Mr. President?” Sonza asked.

“Bakit ginagawang parang gatasan ng gobyerno (philhealth) ang MIGRANTENG Pilipino (OFW)?” he added.

It was reported that some people were disqualified from receiving financial aid from the government because they have a close relative working abroad.

However, according to the Department of Labor and Employment, OFWs affected by the COVID-19 would receive 10,000 pesos from the government under DOLE-AKAP assistance.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista also said that relatives of stranded OFWs may also be included in the list of SAP beneficiaries.

“Ang mga pamilya naman ng mga overseas Filipinos in distress o silang naibalik sa bansa o walang kita o hindi napadalhan ng pera mula sa overseas Filipinos dahil sa COVID 19 o silang pinagbawalan bumyahe sa labas ng bansa o stranded mula noon dahil sa paglaganap ng COVID-19 na pumigil sa kakayanan nila na magtrabaho sa labas ng bansa mula Enero 2020 hanggang sa pag-alis ng community quarantine ay maari rin maipasama sa target beneficiaries,” Bautista said. 

The veteran journalist also blamed Senator Risa Hontiveros for what’s happening.

“Sa SSS contribution, may pension ka. sa Pagibig Fund, may housing na, may savings pa. 9 May Pakinabang. May Balik. Sa PhilHealth deduction, pagtapos ng taon, wala na. Pagsimula ng taon, deduction na naman, pagtapos na ang taon, back to zero na naman. Walang balik. Walang pakinabang. SI SENADOR RISA HONTIVEROS LANG ANG NAKINABANG !!!!” he said.

According to an online petition against the mandatory premium payment, anyone who didn’t pay the mandatory payment might be forced to pay all the missed contributions with interest and penalty.

“I believe that this is already too much of them to ask for an interest rate and a penalty which is very unfair and inhumane for those who travel away from their families to work. It is very unfortunate that they call OFWs modern heroes and yet they penalize us with such directives,” the petition reads.

OFWs also slammed Philhealth for adding burden to them.

“Shame to PhilHealth. It a heavy burden to all OFWs. How you’ll trust a corrupt agency that cannot even provide medical needs to OFWs working overseas. STOP using overseas workers as a milking cow,” one of the people who signed the online petition said.

Even Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. opposed the increase of premium contribution.

“After the abolition of the income tax on OFWs, they’ve figured another way to tax you for your great privilege of being born Filipino, poor and jobless at home. Let’s all sing for nothing,” Locsin wrote.

President Duterte is not yet giving a comment on the said issue.