TV5 may be the second home of laid off workers from ABS-CBN
Many netizens expressed their dismay and frustration because the lawmakers denied ABS-CBN to renew its franchise. It will be harder for the employees as our economy took a hit from the pandemic crisis.
Well, there’s still a silver lining despite of the sad news that the network is laying off. TV5 Network Inc. may absorb a hundred of those workers so they can still support their families
The network needs more people for content creation
In order to guarantee the employment of the rest of its workforce, ABS-CBN announced last week that it would start worker layoffs on Aug. 31. The broadcasting company has no choice but to stop operations of some of its businesses.
It also reported P30 million to P35 million in losses every day that it is off the air, and that its closure would result in the loss of livelihood of more than 11,000 employees.
TV5 is opening its network as a new home for those employees who lose their jobs because of the ABS-CBN closure. Its chairman, Manuel V. Pangilinan told a source that TV5 is planning to improve its entertainment content creation so they’re going to need more people for the job. He said, “We are revving up our entertainment content creation and will need creatives, talents, directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, etc.”
Pangilinan added that there will be a possible mass move from Sgt. Esguerra to Reliance. However, there are no direct conversations or deals between ABS-CBN and TV5.
DepEd suggest to use the network frequencies for distance learning
The Department of Education has proposed to the government to temporarily tap former radio and television frequencies of ABS-CBN for providing an alternative means for distance learning.
Deputy Speaker Ray Villafuerte supported that proposal because of the “learning crisis” brought by the COVID-19. According to a recent World Bank report, the global emergency health crisis is causing more than 1.6 billion children and youth to be out of school in 161 countries or around 80 percent of the world’s students.
Villafuerte stated that Philippines is among the countries experiencing a “learning crisis” due to the pandemic. With this in consideration, he stated that creativity in remote learning strategies can be the answer to this crisis. One way is utilizing radio and TV for teaching purposes.
Some communities, like the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, can benefit greatly from this proposal since they do not have access yet to digital means of education.
What are your thoughts on these suggestions?
