Malacanang Palace downplayed the statements of MOR 101.9 disc jockey Czarina Balba known in her screen name as “DJ Chacha” urging Senator Ronald Dela Rosa to resign after announcing his everlasting loyalty to President Rodrigo Duterte.

During a press conference in Malacanang, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo has been asked about their comments on the criticisms of Balba against Dela Rosa.

As a response, Panelo said that Balba might be the one who wanted to be a bodyguard of President Rodrigo Duterte and just using Dela Rosa to hide her true intentions.

“Baka naman siya ang gustong mag-apply. Hayaan mo nalang siya,” Panelo said.

The DJ suggested several days ago that Dela Rosa should just work for President Duterte as a bodyguard instead of working as a senator.

“I suggest mag-resign na dapat si Senator Bato sa pagiging senador at mag-apply na Bodyguard ng Presidente tutal naman ang loyalty niya ay sa Pangulo at hindi sa taong bayan,” she said.

I suggest mag-resign na dapat si Senator Bato sa pagiging senador at mag-apply na Bodyguard ng Presidente tutal naman ang loyalty niya ay sa Pangulo at hindi sa taong bayan.

— DJ Chacha (@mor1019chacha) February 18, 2020

Balba catches the attention of Dela Rosa on Wednesday after the latter rejected the DJ’s call for his resignation.

“Mali ba ang maging loyal sa isang (Is it wrong to be loyal to a) duly elected President who is after the welfare of his people and who is willing to confront the oligarchs who have been bastardizing this country for so long ?” Dela Rosa said.

“Sabihan mo si DJ Chacha baka ang alam lang nya ay magchacha, ilang beses kong sinugal ang buhay ko para sa inang bayan just to let her know,” he also said.

In another interview, he also asked who Balba was to order him to leave the Senate.

“Sino ba siya? I was voted upon 19 million Filipinos at siya hindi niya ako ibinoto at yung binoto niya yung mga natalo tapos ngayon pag resign-in niya ko? Who you?” Dela Rosa said.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, on Tuesday, scored Senate committee on public services chairperson Grace Poe for pushing for the “unconstitutional” hearing of the Senate on the ABS-CBN franchise.

In an interview with the media, Cayetano said that Poe and other Senators are violating the constitution, explaining that the franchise of ABS-CBN should be heard first in the House of Representatives before the Senate.

“Ano ba sabi sa Constitution? Saan ba mag-uumpisa ang prangkisa? Sa House o sa Senate?” said Cayetano.

Cayetano said that he agreed with Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s statement that a hearing in the senate is useless if ever that the Congress decided to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.

“Sangayon ako dun kay Senate President Sotto nung sinabi niyang, ‘Anong ihi-hear mo?’ Kasi ‘pag dineny namin, wala siyang ihi-hear. Kapag in-approve namin, e ‘di may records na siya ng lahat ng nagsabing gusto at hindi, at 300 mahigit ang kongresista,” he said.

He also asked why the senators don’t want to talk about constitutional reforms in the Philippines, but rushing to discuss the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.

“Nagtataka lang ako kay Senator Grace Poe at sa mga senador, kapag chacha ang pinagusapan ayaw nila, wag daw muna pag usapan, pero they feel free to violate the constitution,” he said.

Reports said that the senate hearing on ABS-CBN franchise is going to start next week.

Cayetano then explained that while the 11,000 jobs produced by ABS-CBN are important, the House Speaker pointed out that there are more important bills that should take care of by the Senate.

“Importante ba ang trabaho ng 11,000 employees ng ABSCBN? Oo naman. But is it more important than the hundreds of thousands of jobs that would be generated if the Senate acted quickly on the CITIRA law that Congress has already forwarded to them?” said Cayetano.

He then repeated that Congress should talk about the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN when everyone is already calm.

Cayetano said that they eyeing to discuss the ABS-CBN franchise in May or after the State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte this year.

“I’m hoping talaga na May, but latest talaga is right after SONA (or) first week of August, depende sa sitwasyon natin sa May,” he said.

The suspect who caused a street vendor to hospitalize is now in the custody of the Manila Police District (MPD) and already presented to Mayor Isko Moreno.

Alexander Ogdamina, the suspect, was presented to Moreno and also to the family of the victim Samsom Bautista.

It can be seen that Moreno was visibly irked when he talked to the suspect.

“Ipalo ko sayo to eh, batugan, naghahanap buhay yung tao eh,” Moreno who’s holding a solid object told Ogdamina.

In the Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, it showed Bautista parking his food cart at the Baseco Compound when Ogdamina approached the victim.

The suspect tried to grab the bag of Bautista, however, the latter resisted which prompted Ogdamina to use force.

Bautista is now currently in the ICU of Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center.

When the media asked Ogdamina about his message to the public, he said that they should just give their money if they encountered people like him.

 “Baka kasi akala nila, nagbibiro kami e. Kapag sinabi namin, ginagawa talaga namin. Kaunting halaga lang naman yan kung tutuusin e. Di na kailangan mawalan pa ng buhay.” Ogdamina said.

Ogdamina also admitted that he already used all the money he got from Bautista. He also revealed that he’s a shabu user.

He also apologized to the Bautista family, saying that he doesn’t really want to hurt his victims.

Meanwhile, Mayor Moreno urged the family of the victim to pursue filing charges against Ogdamina and avoid settling it.

He also thanked MPD for a job well done in searching for Ogdamina’s whereabouts.

The Manila City Government is also willing to shoulder the hospitalization of Bautista.

“Ang tao hindi mo mapipigilan na mag isip ng masama sa kapwa niya, pero kapag ginawa ninyo yun sa Maynila ay papanagutin namin kayo,” said Moreno.

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.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said that he’s not going to support the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN until the investigation is not yet done on the alleged illegal acts committed by the broadcasting company in the past.

In an interview, Dela Rosa said that the issue is not only about the 11,000 people who could lose their jobs if ABS-CBN closes down.

“What is 11,000 compared to the whole Filipino nation na matagal nang sinamantalahan ng isang kompanya kung talagang ma-prove yan sa hearing? What is 11,000 compared to the whole Filipino nation?” Dela Rosa said.

However, Dela Rosa wanted congress to probe ABS-CBN so they could clear themselves from the allegations being thrown against them.

The Senator said that he’s going to decide whether he’s going to support ABS-CBN or not based on the result of the investigation.

“E kung mabigat yung akusasyon na talagang maraming viniolate ang ABS, bakit mo pa i re-renew. Kung talagang ma-prove dun sa hearing na grabe.. sinamanlala ng husto ng ABS-CBN ang samabayanang Pilipino, bakit nyo pa i renew?” he said.

The Senator then admitted that the influence of President Rodrigo Duterte to him amid the issue of the ABS-CBN franchise is strong, saying that he’s going to “sink and swim” with him.

“Hindi ako plastic na magsabing wala akong bias. Totoong tao ako na magsabi na may bias ako towards the president,” he said.

President Duterte is a critic of ABS-CBN and he’s the one who warned the broadcasting network that their franchise is not going to be renewed.

ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to expire in March 2020, however several politicians are working to extend it even without renewing it.

Buhay Party-list Representative Lito Atienza urged his colleagues in Congress to act as soon as possible on reviewing the franchise of ABS-CBN.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said in a recent interview that ABS-CBN’s franchise is not a priority of the Congress and they need to discuss more important issues instead of focusing on the renewal of the broadcasting company.

However, Atienza insisted that the ABS-CBN franchise issue is an “important and urgent matter” which should not be ignored by lawmakers.

He also believes that Congress are doing delaying tactics to prevent ABS-CBN to get a franchise renewal.

“In other words, pinagpapasa pasahan ang bola, ang mangyayari diyan walang aksyon, pag walang aksyon magsasara ang ABS (CBN)… I don’t want ABS (CBN) to just close down ng hindi pinagbotohan ng kongreso,” said Atienza.

Atienza also told lawmakers that the Congress should also close down if they’re not planning to discuss the franchise of ABS-CBN.

“Kung hindi gagalaw ang Kongreso, magsara na lang tayo at wala naman tayong silbi,” the lawmaker said.

“I challenge the committee chair of legislative franchises, kung di ka magtatrabaho hindi naman pwedeng lahat kami apektabo, apektabo ang buong bansa. [To] the Speaker, if you don’t want to work, we want to work,” he added.

While Atienza is rushing to discuss the ABS-CBN franchise in the Congress, House Speaker Cayetano wants to talk about the franchise renewal of the broadcasting company when everyone is calm already.

According to Cayetano, despite not getting a franchise approval before March 2020, ABS-CBN may still operate in the next two years.

“Don’t get me wrong, napaka importante ng franchise ng ABS-CBN, hindi lang sa 11,000 empleyado, importante ito sa buong bansa, sa demokrasya natin, pero hindi ganon ka urgent, bakit? Kasi hanggang march 2022 pwedeng mag operate eh,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano explained that discussing the franchise renewal now could only drain the energy of the 18th Congress.

“Pustahan tayo, lahat ng anti, pipila makapagsalita. Lahat ng pro, pipila para magsalita. Kaya kung gusto ko mag-grandstand lang, ay papatawag na ‘ko ng hearing kaagad,” Cayetano said.

“The who’s who of the Philippines, lahat ng celebrities, basketball players, media, mag-aattend kayong lahat e. Pero is it the right timing? Tanungin niyo. Tayo ba lahat nasa right frame of mind ngayon o may mga init ng ulo pa?” he added.

“When the time comes, but definitely before March 2022. Possibly, in May, if we have enough time and we have cooler heads and with all the issues. Worst case, after SONA,” he also said.

Veteran journalist Jay Sonza is not yet done with ABS-CBN as he criticized the broadcasting network again on his new social media post.

Sonza, who’s a journalist for ABS-CBN for 12 years, claimed that the broadcasting network didn’t use their own money to help people.

“Binabatikos ang mga pulitikong epal. Ngunit, Gawain din ninyo ang sobrang drama at epal. Lahat ng pinamimigay ninyo ay galing sa taumbayan. Wala ni singkong duling ang galing sa bulsa ng may-ari o mismong kumpanya ng abs-cbn.
Pati building, sasakyan at mga lupain at ariarian ng foundation ay galing sa donors. walang inilabas na Pera ang kumpanya o network,” Sonza said.

Sonza is confident about the information he posted and claimed that he’s the one running the foundation for ten years.

“I should know we were running the foundation for ten years. 1986-96,” he said.

The journalist then asked the television network not to ask sympathy to the public amid their possible closure because of the franchise issue.

It’s not yet known if Sonza is referring to the ABS-CBN foundation which is founded in 1989 or another organization affiliated to the broadcasting network.

The post already reached 2,700 reactions on social media and 1,000 shares as of writing.

After the government filed a quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN, supporters of the broadcasting network brought up the goods things did by the company to other people.

Recently, a news report about Yolanda survivors supporting the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN has been published on social media.