Poe wants ‘utmost study, scrutiny’ of House bill revoking SMNI franchise

The bill revoking the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp., which operates Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), should undergo “utmost study and scrutiny” by the Senate, Senator Grace Poe said Thursday.

“To my knowledge, this is the first instance that a proposal for a franchise revocation has made significant progress in Congress,” Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, told GMA News Online.

“We should subject this to utmost study and scrutiny as this shall set a precedent for future legislative franchises.”

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading House Bill 9719, which revokes Swara Sug’s franchise due to alleged willful dissemination of false information and transfer of ownership without congressional approval, among others.

The passage of HB 9719 is now in the hands of the Senate as under the 1987 Constitution, all appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with the amendments.

In deliberating the measure, Poe said the Senate panel will be guided by the principle that a franchise is a privilege and that grantees should always abide by the tenets of fairness and public welfare.

Poe said the Senate panel will act on HB 9719 once it is transmitted to the chamber and referred to her committee.

While she made the remark, Poe said its prioritization would depend on the Senate leadership as they set the pace on the bills that will be passed by the chamber.

“The Committee shall seek the consensus of the body on this. No franchise bill has ever been listed as a priority so I defer to the leadership as to the pace of its disposition,” she said.

“We have always taken into consideration the other Chamber’s priorities but the Senate has never been in the tradition of railroading any measure. All bills are thoroughly debated and major stakeholders are respectfully consulted without exception,” Poe added.

Poe went on and related the Senate’s prioritization of bills to the ongoing Charter change moves in the House of Representatives. “Whether it’s a constitutional amendment or a legislative franchise, the Senate prioritizes measures according to the needs of the country. The people sets the deadline; we just listen,” she said

The House bill on SMNI franchise was filed by 1-Rider party-list Representative Rodge Gutierrez after SMNI aired an episode wherein anchor Eric Celiz accused Speaker Martin Romualdez of splurging over P1 billion in foreign trips, a comment that Celiz later apologized for and said was inaccurate.

Congress granted Swara Sug’s franchise in 2019.

Apart from HB 9719, the House of Representatives has also approved on final reading Resolution of Both Houses No. 7, which amends certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. —KBK, GMA Integrated News