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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-8/end-of-abs-cbn-sm.webp" alt="ABS-CBN" />
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(ABS-CBN)
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There are, however, those who spoke up and, despite the prospect of getting vilified by trolls of the pro-ABS-CBN camp, opined that the nation is better off without ABS-CBN on the air.
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Solicitor General Jose Calida, who started it all by filing a quo warranto case against ABS-CBN in the Supreme Court, provided the legal framework within which the franchise issue should be evaluated.
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He said:
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"The granting of a legislative franchise is a privilege, not a right. Congress has ascertained that ABS-CBN is not worthy of a legislative franchise, and its decision must be accorded respect."
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Several days after the ABS-CBN franchise expired, writer F. Sionil Jose bluntly stated in his column that the ABS-CBN franchise issue is not about press freedom, and that the removal of the media giant will level the playing field in the media industry, and will strengthen democracy in the Philippines.
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Jose lauded the 70 members of the House committee who voted against a new franchise for ABS-CBN. He said:
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"I do not mourn the passing of ABS-CBN, much as I sympathize with its employees who lost their jobs. Institutions, like nations, also die when a much stronger force, particularly that with moral authority, confronts them. The congressional denial of ABS-CBN's request for a new franchise is one such example. I salute all the congressmen who voted NO."
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In an interview former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the expiration of the ABS-CBN franchise does not involve press freedom, and is not an affront to public interest. He said that from the very start, ABS-CBN knew that its right to engage in the business of broadcast media is only for a specified, limited duration as stated in its now-expired franchise.
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Columnist Federico Pascual Jr. agreed with Enrile:
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"In the wake of the franchise brouhaha, some ABS-CBN partisans raised the right to press freedom to defend the beleaguered mass media enterprise. They argued that NTC's cease and desist order violated ABS-CBN's press freedom."
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He disagreed:
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"With due respect to the partisans, I could not see how that argument would fly. From the very start, ABS-CBN knew that its right to engage in mass media broadcast as a business is only for a specified and limited duration, only until May 4, 2020, and not more. That was why the owners of ABS-CBN caused the filing of a bill in the House of Representatives to extend its franchises."
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Pascual added:
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 "The specific terms of ABS-CBN's franchises are limitations on its press freedom. The press freedom of ABS-CBN as a business enterprise was not indefinite. It was circumscribed and limited by the provisions of its legislative franchises which said ‘only until May 4, 2020.'"
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VIEWS: The nation is better off without ABS-CBN on the air