Employees protest against Philippines network closure

About two hundred employees and supporters of the Philippines' ABS-CBN TV network gathered outside the network's compound in Manila on Friday after the rejection of its franchise renewal.

Philippine lawmakers voted to turn down the licence renewal of the country's largest TV network.

ABS-CBN Corp. had been repeatedly threatened by the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. The vote took a major news provider off the air amid the coronavirus pandemic.

One employee, Fernando Sepe Jr., described the move as an "attack on legitimate media" which together with the recently passed Anti-Terror law was a throwback to the "time of autocratic rule" under former President Ferdinand Marcos.

"Citizens, you have been warned: your civil liberties have been eroded. Your democracy is shrinking fast," Sepe said.

The House of Representatives committee on franchises voted 70-11 to reject a new 25-year franchise for the network.

The National Telecommunications Commission had ordered it shut down in May after its old franchise expired.

International media watchdogs have condemned the closure as a major blow to press freedom in an Asian bastion of democracy.

Duterte and his political allies have questioned the TV network's compliance with the law and the terms of its franchise.