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Second of a series Upon foreclosure, the Lopezes moved quickly, bidded for the companies and won them. Bolinao became the precursor of ABS-CBN. The Lopezes then also acquired the Monserrat Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network and put them under the Benpres Holding Company. In 1956, the Lopezes, after setting up a powerful relay transmitter in Mount Sto. Tomas, a forestry reservation, without a permit, mysteriously acquired the People’s Homesite and Housing Corp. (PHHC), a 4.4-hectare lot on Bohol Avenue, through a certain G. Palomar. Photo from Google Images The PHHC price was P14 per square meter with a downpayment of 10 percent and the balance amortized monthly over a period of 10 years. In less than a year, the Lopez family requested the PHHC that the property be sold to Eugenio Lopez Sr. instead of the Manila Chronicle. The PHHC general manager, however, stated that the conditional contract of sale to Eugenio could not be approved due t...

First of a series Barely a few days after the Lopezes and the Cojuangcos had moved into the [Corazon] Aquino administration after the EDSA uprising that toppled the Marcos regime in 1986, the Lopez family requested President Aquino for the return of all the Lopez assets, including Meralco (Manila Electric Co.), which by then was under the First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC). Official documents showed that on April 17, 1986, the Lopez family, through its counsel Lorenzo Tañada Sr., also formally requested President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino “for the return of all the assets of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation still under the possession of the Aquino government.” ABS-CBN at that time included TV stations 2 and 4. In the case of the Meralco, President Aquino created a three-man board of arbitrators, specifically to render a final adjudication and settlement of the Lopez claim. The next thing the public knew, the Lopez family was already in complete control of...

IT struck us while monitoring Monday’s Senate hearing on the burning ABS-CBN Corp. franchise renewal controversy, that the event was being broadcast live solely by the ABS-CBN channels, particularly its cable news channel, ANC. Normally, discussions of big public issues grab the attention of all media. But, this time around, the other broadcast networks showed disinterest and passed on the Senate extravaganza, thereby depriving some eager senators the precious opportunity to preen before the cameras. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO The difference in attitude is wholly understandable. The franchise issue is an existential concern only of ABS-CBN, because it is the only one whose franchise is set to expire on March 30. The other networks are not facing the same quandary because they have their franchises intact or have already renewed them. Consequently, the hearing was principally about ABS-CBN and its interest. The interest of other media was only superficially or tangen...

Photo from Google Images IF you watched the Senate committee hearing the other day on ABS-CBN Corp.’s franchise application that was called by Sen. Mary Grace Poe, you’ll be as convinced as I was that it was a production mounted by the media giant; so expertly done that if it had been a movie, it would have been an award-winner. It was, however, one of the clearest demonstrations I’ve ever seen of an oligarch at work and why oligarchs are oligarchs: they can expertly use the institutions and leaders of the State, and cloak their agenda of perpetuating their rule as economic elites. The quality the hearing shares with ABS-CBN’s telenovelas is that it has no existence in the real world. Hold marathon hearings as much as Poe can call, the Senate has no business tackling ABS-CBN’s franchise application at this time. Going by the Constitution, it is the House of Representatives that first has to pass a bill to give a company the franchise to use the state-owned radio sp...

Duterte at Rida Reyes and Cedric Castillo wedding President Rodrigo Duterte was present at the wedding ceremony of GMA News reporters Cedric Castillo and Rida Reyes on Saturday. A photo posted by former reporter Steve Dailisan on Facebook showed Duterte at the event along with anchors Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales. A post by another former reporter Julius Segovia showed the president with other guests including GMA News reporters JP Soriano and John Consulta. Castillo and Reyes tied the knot at the Vieux Chalet in Antipolo City, with a number of GMA News anchors and reporters in attendance. Cedric and Rida tied the knot three months after they were engaged last December.  —Julia Mari Ornedo/LA, GMA News This article Duterte attends GMA reporters’ wedding in Antipolo City was originally published in GMA News Online. Source and Original Article: >>> msn.com and GMA News

© Provided by Kami Journalist, may patutsada kay DJ Chacha kaugnay sa 'resign Bato' issue -Hindi pinalagpas ni Jay Sonza ang naging pahayag ni DJ Chacha tungkol kay Senator Bato kamakailan -Idinaan pa nito ang patutsada sa DJ sa kapwa journalist na si Ted Failon -Anito, huwag na raw paglihian ni DJ Chacha si Senator Bato dahil delikado na raw ang prangkisa ng kanilang network sa Senado at sa pangulo -Sinabi kasi DJ Chacha na dapat daw mag-resign na lang si Bato dahil nasa pangulo naman daw ang loyalty nito at wala sa bayan Hindi pinalagpas ni Jay Sonza ang naging pahayag ni DJ Chacha tungkol kay Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa kamakailan. Si Sonza ay isa sa mga kilalang tagasuporta ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at ng mga kaalyado nito. Prangka rin at deretso kung magbigay ng pahayag ang mamamahayag. Sa kanyang Facebook post noong Pebrero 20, sinagot nito ang naging pahayag ni DJ Chacha tungkol kay Senator Bato at idinaan pa nga...

Philippine National Police chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa Feb. 10, 2020. Photo: PNP Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa on Monday hit back at the latest remark of Vice President Leni Robredo, saying that any move to cover-up the inclusion of some cops in the drug watchlist would result in the erosion of the public trust in the police organization. "Wrong statement cause no basis. I-adjudicate pa nga namin eh why would say we're protecting them? Had we intend to protect them, bakit namin ilabas si 357?" Gamboa told reporters in Camp Crame. Gamboa further said the PNP would still investigate those cops in the list who had gone AWOL (absence without leave). Of the 357 policemen on the list, a total of 43 had gone AWOL. "I emphasized, hindi ibig sabihin na nag-optional retirement ka na, hindi ka na namin iimbestigahan. Nandoon pa rin 'yan," Gamboa said. "Kung ma-prove namin n...

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV arrived in the country on Tuesday morning to face the conspiracy to commit sedition charge filed against him and several others, according to Nimfa Ravelo's report on Dobol B sa News TV. Trillanes, who landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, is expected to post the P10,000 bail needed for his temporary liberty before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court at 11 a.m. JUST IN: Dating Sen.  @TrillanesSonny  IV, dumating na sa bansa; nakatakdang magpiyansa sa Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court bago magtanghali. | via  @nimfaravelo pic.twitter.com/kKhuwmfwhl — DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb)  February 18, 2020 He was met by his staff and lawyer Rey Robles. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors charged Trillanes and 10 others for allegedly conspiring to link President Rodrigo Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade "with no other purpose but to inflict an act of hate or revenge" against the...