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This view shows the ABS-CBN network headquarters in Quezon City in the Metro Manila area on May 5, 2020. The Philippines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN on May 5 was ordered off the air over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh charges that authorities were cracking down on press freedom.
AFP / Maria Tan
MANILA, Philippines — ABS-CBN Corp. has confirmed that one of its directors proposed to shut down the media giant entirely.
According to a statement by ABS-CBN on Wednesday, April 15, the director, who was not named, suggested the shutdown without providing a plan for how the company would meet its various obligations to its workforce.
In response to the said director’s proposal, the majority of the Board of Directors strongly argued against liquidation, to “address the welfare of the company’s employees and retirees, as well as its other stakeholders.”
ABS-CBN clarified that the most significant decline in the pension fund was the result of a commitment to fully pay out benefits to nearly 6,000 employees who were retrenched following the loss of the company’s broadcast franchise in 2020.
“From ABS-CBN's perspective, we acknowledge that, following the loss of our franchise in 2020, we have experienced challenging financial years but have shown steady, consistent improvement. Our Board of Directors and the rest of the Lopez family have commended the company's progress and emphasized its existence as important to the country,” ABS-CBN said.
“These continued public PR attacks against ABS-CBN are a disservice to the employees who have fought so hard to keep ABS-CBN alive, and to the public that has supported ABS-CBN throughout all its trials,” the company added.
Further refuting claims of mismanagement, the network denied allegations that 68 individuals received "preferred treatment" regarding their retirement benefits.
The company explained that many of these individuals actually agreed to defer their own payments to ensure that thousands of other separated employees could receive their full separation pay immediately.
“The majority of these individuals are retirees who have received only partial or no retirement benefits, despite already retiring. They have agreed to voluntarily wait until ABS-CBN’s financial position improves before receiving full payment,” the company said.
Additionally, the board, except for one member, refuted claims that a rumored P2 billion capital infusion would be used to pay out retirement benefits.
“These public PR attacks on ABS-CBN’s pension fund, its business performance, and its leadership prove that the individual/s behind these releases do not have the best interests of the company at heart,” the company said.
Following the expiration of its congressional franchise on May 4, 2020, ABS-CBN was forced to cease its nationwide television and radio broadcasts under a cease-and-desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
Although several bills for the network's renewal had been languishing in Congress since 2014, the House of Representatives did not begin formal deliberations on the matter until March 2020.
