Rappler Talk: Covering the unthinkable shutdown with ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo

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MANILA, Philippines – For the first time since the dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, ABS-CBN Channel 2 was forced to go off the air.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) served a cease and desist order that shut down the broadcasting operation of the free Channel 2, as well as major channels and radio stations operated by the network. (READ: ABS-CBN to Supreme Court: NTC shutdown violates press freedom)

ABS-CBN News has reported that Solicitor General Jose Calida pressured the NTC to issue a cease and desist order, despite earlier promises by the NTC leaders that it will allow the network to provisionally air after its franchise expired on May 4. Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who is being blamed for the shutdown, has given the same observation.

Rappler justice reporter Lian Buan talks to ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo who broke the report, and who covers the justice beat, as the broadcast giant finds itself figuring in the Duterte administration’s novel legal actions against dissenters.

Watch the interview on Friday afternoon, May 8. – Rappler.com