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Philippines’ ABS-CBN closes regional stations that served remote communities for decades
- The closure of 53 regional TV and radio stations will deprive millions of Filipinos of their main source of local news and entertainment
- Hundreds of journalists lost their jobs as the broadcaster cut its operations after ad revenues were ravaged by the loss of its free-to-air licence
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Anchor Dhobie de Guzman has been the face of a popular news show in the northern Philippines for more than a decade. Now the closure of his regional station – and dozens of others countrywide – has left him out of work.
He is among hundreds of journalists to lose their jobs at ABS-CBN as the broadcasting giant – a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte – slashes its operations after advertising revenues were ravaged by the loss of its free-to-air licence in May.
The closure of 53 regional television and radio stations that broadcast in six languages will deprive millions of Filipinos of their main source of local news and entertainment.
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Philippines’ ABS-CBN closes regional stations that served remote communities for decades
Philippines’ ABS-CBN closes regional stations that served remote communities for decades
“It’s painful,” de Guzman, 43, said last Friday after presenting the final TV Patrol North Luzon in a studio 240km (150 miles) from the capital Manila.
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“You do your job responsibly, you do your share to change the life of ordinary people, then at the end of the day you lose your platform to do that.”
Congress last month rejected ABS-CBN’s application for a new 25-year franchise and a Supreme Court petition over the issue was dismissed.
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