House bill revoking SMNI franchise hurdles second reading

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on second reading the proposal revoking the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp., which operates under the business name Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).

Deciding via voice vote, the House plenary approved House Bill 9710 revoking the franchise due to alleged violations such as willful dissemination of false information, and transfer of ownership without congressional approval.

The measure, authored by 1-Rider party-list lawmaker Rodge Gutierrez, was approved without amendments and just a day after it was passed at the committee level.

“SMNI has engaged in red-tagging and fake news peddling, labeling members of the House, the former Vice President of the Philippines [Leni Robredo], and private persons as members of the New People’s Army. The [franchise] grantee corporation also attempted to create discord between the Upper and the Lower House by insinuating that unnamed and unverified Senate sources have claimed that Congress has spent P1.8 billion in travel expenses in 2023 without any basis or proof,” House Bill 9710 read.

“In fact, this baseless allegation was subsequently disproved by no less than the head of the Finance Department of the House of Representatives. Clearly, all these acts of SMNl run contrary to its mandate provided under Section 4 of the law that granted its franchise,” it added. — with a report from Tina Panganiban Perez/ VDV, GMA Integrated News