Not the same: Castro cites key difference between cases of SMNI, ABS-CBN 

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The case of television network SMNI, which has been handed a 30-day suspension order by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), is different from that of the shuttered ABS-CBN.

House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro had this to say as she reacted Thursday afternoon, Dec. 21 to the NTC’s order to place the controversial SMNI in the freezer.

Castro’s argument is that, while the Kapamilya network’s presence in the airwaves is a boon to freedom of the press, the same cannot be said about the Pastor Apollo Quiboloy-founded SMNI.

“With the recent hearings by the [House] Committee on Legislative Franchise on SMNI, as well as some of the documents that we have seen, it seems that SMNI itself is a threat to press freedom with its advocacy of violence, disinformation (fake news) and intolerance (hate speech),” she noted.

“Hindi ito tulad sa kaso ng ABS-CBN na sinadyang pinasara ng mga Duterte dahil sa pagbatikos sa kanila (This is different from the case of ABS-CBN, which was forcibly shut down by the Dutertes over the criticism against them),” the congresswoman from the Makabayan bloc added.

Castro alluded to the various alleged violations of SMNI that were brought to light during the House panel inquiry.

SMNI’s woes began when it aired through one of its programs the rumor that House Speaker Martin had spent a whopping P1.8 billion on his travels. This was later proved to be fake news in the panel hearings.

“As it stands now, the SMNI issue is shaping out not to be a press freedom issue as its hosts and ‘talents’ want to project,” Castro said.

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Castro was the subject of a “death threat” by former president Rodrigo Duterte, which aired on another SMNI program.

Radio and television giant ABS-CBN went off the air in 2020. That same year, the network sought an extension of its operating franchise from Congress.

The House ultimately rejected ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application.