SMNI franchise revocation likely, says House leader 

A vice chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises says controversial television network SMNI is likely to lose its operating franchise.

“There is a really big possibility [of] revoking [the franchise],” Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel said in a recent interview over ANC.

The committee has already adopted House Resolution (HR) No. 1499, introduced by Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list Rep. Margarita “Atty. Migs” Nograles. The resolution–citing the violations of SMNI–urges the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to suspend the network’s operations.

The woes of SMNI–which is officially known as Swara Sug Media Corp.–began when the committee launched a probe last Nov. 30 on an allegation made on air in an SMNI program that House Speaker Martin Romualdez had spent P1.8 billion on his travels.

This was proven to be fake news by the panel, which is chaired by Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Gus Tambunting.

But Pimentel said the false travel spree claim was just one aspect of a broader pattern of attacks against the House of Representatives and its members.

“There was already a pattern…if you recall, this was not the first incident that they attacked the institution … Before this incident, there were several aired programs attacking the Speaker, Congress and other individual congressmen were being attacked, in fact threatened,” noted the veteran lawmaker from Mindanao.

Pimentel was referring to an SMNI program where former president Rodrigo Duterte labeled Congress as “the most rotten institution” and another broadcast wherein he purportedly threatened the life of ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, whom he claimed was a communist.

“So Congress took it upon themselves to protect the institution, especially the integrity of the institution,” said Pimentel, a former deputy speaker.

The Nograles resolution was adopted during the panel’s follow-up hearing last Tuesday, Dec. 5. “I believe there is another bill to be passed to revoke the franchise of SMNI,” Pimentel disclosed.

SMNI’s congressional franchise was granted through Republic Act (RA) No.11422 in 2019. It renewed the network’s license for an additional 25 years.

House members like Pimentel and Tambunting have repeatedly said that a legislative franchise was a privilege and not a right, meaning it can be taken away if the provisions of RA No.11422 aren’t followed.

“Based on two hearings, we have evidence proving that they have violated several sections of their franchise, and it is a ground [for revocation]. We have every reason to revoke their franchise,” he said.

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Section 4 of RA No.11422 mandates that “the grantee shall… conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and not use its stations or facilities… for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, to the detriment of the public interest”.

The resolution further addressed other franchise breaches outlined in Sections 10, 11, and 12 of RA No.11422, specifically focusing on SMNI’s failure to report to Congress and seek approval, particularly regarding matters of ownership or the transfer of controlling interest.

It was revealed during the Tuesday hearing that there were at least nine pending complaints against SMNI and its talents Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz and Lorraine Badoy. It was Celiz and Badoy who aired the P1.8-billion travel spree claim on their program, “Laban Kasama Ang Bayan”.

These cases were from a Quezon City court, the NTC, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), and the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

During the Dec. 5 hearing, it was also revealed that SMNI neither sought approval nor informed Congress about the transfer of controlling interest from Pastor Apollo Quiboloy—who is wanted in the United States (US) for alleged conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking, fraud, and cash smuggling—to Marlon Acobo through succession.