A billionaire businessman and political fundraiser linked to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has wrested control of the broadcast frequencies used by the country’s largest television network ABS-CBN before the government forced it to close, raising concern about a further erosion of media freedom.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said in a statement on Tuesday that it had granted Manuel Villar’s company, Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS) a “provisional authority” to operate a digital channel in Metro Manila, and to do a test broadcast through its companion analogue channel – both of which used to carry ABS-CBN’s news and entertainment shows.
