MANILA, Philippines — House Minority Leader and Manila Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. has filed a bill seeking to abolish the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and transferring its powers and functions to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). ADVERTISEMENTAbante filed on Wednesday House Bill 6701, a day after the NTC issued a cease-and-desist order to broadcast giant ABS-CBN. But instead of adhering to its promise, the commission instead issued the cease and desist order. The NTC ordered ABS-CBN to “cease and desist” from broadcasting on television and radio, a day after its operating franchise expired. ADVERTISEMENTDespite this, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte remains “neutral” on the issue, and also urged members of Congress to vote on the franchise renewal “as conscience dictates.”EDVRead NextEDITORS' PICKMOST READ

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 07, 2020 05:26 UTC