Gabby Lopez
SUMENTRO sa citizenship ni dating ABS-CBN president Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III ang joint hearing ng House committee on legislative franchise at good government and public accountability.
Giit ni Lopez ipinanganak siya sa Estados Unidos pero lumaki siya sa Pilipinas.
“I grew up in the Philippines and I went to grade school and high school in the Philippines. I only went to college and my masters in America,” ani Lopez.
Mahalaga ng citizenship ni Lopez sa usapin dating nakasaad sa Konstitusyon na tanging Pilipino lamang ang maaaring mag-may-ari ng media sa bansa.
“…because I was not born in the PH, I did not have a Filipino birth certificate. So it behooved me to have recognition by the DOJ (Department of Justice) and BI (Bureau of Immigration) for whatever legal purposes I may use of that recognition po,” ani Lopez.
Inamin din ni Lopez na ginagamit niya ang kanyang American passport.
Iginiit din ng abugado ni Lopez na si Ayo Bautista na batay sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema ang paggamit ng foreign passport ay hindi batayan para masabi na hindi Filipino ang isang tao.
“I have been committed to the people of this country. It is a trust that has been passed on to me by my father and by his father before him. It is the trust that has been given to me and in fact, I always tell our employees dito sa ABS-CBN po, it’s not just a job, it is a calling,” dagdag pa ni Lopez.
“So please if you are going to look beyond the technicality and talk about allegiance, please look at my record over the last 35 years po,” dagdag pa Lopez.
Sa pagtatanong ng mga kongresista inamin din ni Lopez na siya ay Amerikano dahil ipinanganak siya sa Amerika.
Iginiit naman ni House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta, tutol sa pagbibigay ng prangkisa sa ABS-CBN, walang problema sa pagiging Amerikano at Filipino ni Lopez.
“The Constitution provides that ownership of companies here is only limited to Filipinos. It could not have been a problem if Mr. Lopez is only a Filipino, but he is also an American. We will have a lot of problems processing that issue,” ani Marcoleta.
“We should not forget here that the issue here is the Constitution. There is no argument that Mr. Lopez is both a US citizen and a Filipino,” dagdag pa ni Marcoleta. “The problem lies only in the fact that ABS-CBN should not be managed by an American.”