METRO MANILA – The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Thursday, ordered the recall of ABS-CBN’s frequencies, sealing the end of its free broadcast business. NTC said in a seven-page order signed by Deputy Commissioners Edgardo Cabarios, Delilah Deles and Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, that the government is mandated to recall the frequencies when the network did not provide a Congressional franchise …

MANILA – The House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises on Friday denied the franchise bid of media giant ABS-CBN after a series of hearings. In a vote of 70 to 11, the Legislative franchise committee has crushed the network’s hope to continue its operations under a fresh franchise. According to the legislators, they have voted to deny the application …

MANILA – Solicitor-General Jose Calida said on Wednesday that Congress and not the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should be blamed for the network’s shutdown. “Why blame NTC when they are only following the law?” Calida, the Solicitor General said in a statement to the media. “Without a valid and subsisting franchise from Congress, the NTC cannot allow any broadcasting entity …

Nonthaburi Governor Sujin Chaichumsak announced on Monday (April 13) that the province would ease its shutdown order for some establishments that are necessary for daily life. From April 15, barber shops, beauty salons (for hair cutting only), courier services, lottery stalls, office equipment stores, construction material shops, furniture shops, mobile phone service shops and stores dealing with computers, electrical appliances …

Immigration authorities have moved to quell rumours of impending border checkpoint closures which had prompted Cambodians to cross into Thailand to buy bottled water. Arthit Yakaew, chief of the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint, on Friday denied that the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak would force the border crossing at Aranyaprathet and Ban Khao Din in Khlong Hat district to close. He dismissed the …

Tourism operators are urging the state to impose a two-week lockdown to keep the coronavirus from spreading to provincial areas and creating a deeper impact on the economy. It’s not too late to put the country into a complete lockdown, closing both land and air connections for two weeks or up to one month, as an urgent measure to tackle …

The Philippine stock exchange chief said he plans to reopen the $188 billion market on Thursday, signaling a quick resumption of trading after the country became the first to shut financial markets in response to the widening coronavirus pandemic. The controversial move to halt trading came amid mounting speculation that other countries may take similar measures as stocks around the …

A coronavirus outbreak has weighed on the transport and tourism sectors in Japan, including bullet trains, with fears about infection making people reluctant to venture outdoors or share confined spaces with others for long hours. The number of passengers between Feb 1 and 19 of the Shinkansen Line connecting Tokyo and Osaka fell 8% from a year earlier, its operator …

Trade exhibitions, once a growth driver for tourism, are in retreat as events are cancelled or postponed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is keeping a close eye on the most prominent marketplace, ITB Berlin 2020, as the health and interior ministries of Germany discuss whether they will hold the event, scheduled for March …

US car maker General Motors confirms that roughly 1,500 workers from its Thai operations have to be laid off this year once Chinese maker Great Wall Motors takes ownership of the Rayong facilities. But the government hopes the new owner can invigorate the country’s fledgling electric vehicle (EV) industry and spur a transition away from internal combustion engines. On Monday, …