ON December 21, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) suspended the operations of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) on radio and television.
This move came after the House of Representatives passed a resolution urging the NTC to suspend the network due to alleged violations.
For SMNI, this was unacceptable, especially since the network was not given the opportunity to explain and respond to the NTC’s show cause order before the suspension was imposed.
It should be noted that immediately after issuing the show cause order, the NTC promptly enforced the suspension order, making it immediately executory. This suggests that the NTC imposed the penalty on the network even before the scheduled hearing on the allegations.
Request for TRO on NTC’s suspension order vs SMNI lodged at Court of Appeals
Hence, on Thursday morning, SMNI, through its lawyers, Atty. Mark Tolentino and Atty. Rolex Suplico approached the Court of Appeals to file a complaint against the NTC.
The network filed for certiorari and mandamus, accompanied by an appeal, urging the CA to issue a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction to halt the implementation of the suspension order.
According to SMNI’s lawyers, the NTC’s strict adherence to the House resolution is fundamentally flawed, as it is not within its mandate to blindly follow legislative dictates.
The legal team further argues that if there were any violations in certain SMNI programs, then the entire network should not be adversely affected.
Atty. Suplico also said that the actions taken by the NTC could potentially have a chilling effect on other journalists in the country.
