(CMFR/IFEX) – A local FM radio station in Kabacan, Cotabato, around 1,100 kilometers south of Manila, faces suspension after the mayor accused it of operating illegally. In her complaint to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), dated 31 March 2006, Kabacan Mayor Luzviminda Tan claimed that 101.7 Hot FM, owned by the Manila Broadcasting Company, illegally […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – A local FM radio station in Kabacan, Cotabato, around 1,100 kilometers south of Manila, faces suspension after the mayor accused it of operating illegally.
In her complaint to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), dated 31 March 2006, Kabacan Mayor Luzviminda Tan claimed that 101.7 Hot FM, owned by the Manila Broadcasting Company, illegally aired commentaries, despite a modulation restriction prohibiting it from doing so.
According to Tan, Hot FM is only authorized to broadcast music and to operate as a public address system when issuing urgent public announcements, and not as a commercial radio station which also airs a public affairs program.
Station manager Ed Tinizo believes that the crux of the complaint has to do with Hot FM’s “Barangayan,” a hard-hitting public affairs program, which has criticized the mayor’s administration. Program Director Malu Manar of Radyo DXND (an AM station also based in Kabacan) concurs with this observation.
Tan, however, denied these allegations and said that her being criticized was not the main issue. In a press release received by CMFR from her office, the mayor said that she was just requesting the necessary documents to prove that the station’s operations are legal.
“The issue is whether they are operating legally or not. They never touched nor emphasized the real motive of my inquiries – whether or not they have the documents we are asking for,” she said.
But Tinizo said they had given the mayor copies of all the documents she had requested. He said they cannot give her the original copies of the documents, for these were being held by their operations manager.
Tan ordered the suspension of Hot FM’s operations twice in March; first, on 13 March and again in the third week of the month, just prior to the mayor’s trip to Brazil on 23 March. However, to date Hot FM continues to operate.
Manar said that this incident prompted the local press to form a small media organization in Cotabato, a local unit of Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), the country’s largest federation of broadcast networks.
