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05/07/2020

: STATE-OWNED TV FREQUENCIES, ABS-CBN'S TAXES, AND COVID-19 MASS TESTING

I read the 04 July 2020 The Manila Times editorial "ABS-CBN hearings expose PH’s flawed fiscal incentives" [1], which said ABS-CBN paid Php 1.4 billion in taxes for the past 18 years while GMA News paid Php 1.4 billion in 2018 alone.

Manila Times reiterated what was shown in the series of House of Representatives of the Philippines hearings on the ABS-CBN Franchise Bill, the same hearings that I have diligently watched for the past several weeks.

The numbers show a disturbing reality: ABS-CBN [2], in terms of revenue, is over thrice as big as GMA [3] (~P40 billion vs ~P15 billion), but it appears to remit only a minuscule fraction of what its far smaller rival pays.

ABS-CBN executives said they simply took advantage of tax incentives available under the law, while ABS-CBN critics argue that, by piercing the corporate veil [4], ABS-CBN indeed evaded taxes, as opposed to merely avoiding them.

I think it's safe to say that the sole criterion for granting a Congressional broadcast franchise is whether its grant will be in the best interest of the State, and the figures quoted above, I'm afraid, strongly suggest that the Filipino People would be better off with giving a franchise to somebody else.

State-owned TV frequencies are limited, so that lending a particular frequency to ABS-CBN means another media firm can't use it.

Should the State lend a TV frequency to ABS-CBN, or should it lend it to another firm who has a record of paying more taxes?

One of ABS-CBN's primary arguments for getting a new franchise is the plight of its 11,000 workers, but is it enough to justify forsaking the plight of the other 109 million Filipinos who could've benefitted if ABS-CBN paid annually even half of what GMA7 paid in 2018?

It's bad enough that we allow ABS-CBN to use the State-owned frequency at virtually no cost, but what makes it worse is that the government appears to be losing billions annually because ABS-CBN uses foreign shell companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Hungary to minimize its tax liabilities.

Even if we assume the legality of ABS-CBN's tax minimization scheme, should the government enable ABS-CBN further by allowing it to use a State asset, instead of lending the State asset to another firm who can give back more to the State?

I just find it ironic that ABS-CBN talents are among the most vocal proponents of COVID-19 mass testing during the pandemic's early days, a proposal that at the time was impossible due to financial constraints on the part of the government.

But if ABS-CBN paid taxes at the same rate as GMA did, could mass testing be possible?

ABS-CBN provides entertainment and news. That is not debatable, but is ABS-CBN the only entity that can provide these services?

Will ABS-CBN's demise make the Filipino people stupid and bored? I bet journalists and entertainers from other media outfits who possess any level of self-respect will beg to disagree.

Besides, if ABS-CBN is so dominant in the Mass Media, so dominant that its closure entails the demise of the Free Press, then that would imply a monopoly.

And just to remind everyone, no less than the 1987 Constitution states that "Congress shall regulate or prohibit monopolies in commercial mass media when the public interest so requires."

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SOURCES:

[1] The Manila Times. ABS-CBN hearings expose PH’s flawed fiscal incentives. Editorial. 04 July 2020. https://rjnieto.me/2BCDSso

[2] WSJ Markets. ABS-CBN Corporation - Financials. Retrieved 04 July 2020. https://rjnieto.me/2ZwrhPq

[3] WSJ Markets. GMA Network Inc. - Financials. Retrieved 04 July 2020. https://rjnieto.me/2ZzBr1P

[4] Thinking Pinoy. [ ] FROM A READER: PIERCING CORPORATE VEIL MAY SHOW ABS-CBN EVADED TAXES USING OVERSEAS SUBSIDIARIES. 04 July 2020. https://rjnieto.me/3gvQKPX

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