MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by GMA Network and its wholly owned subsidiary Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Incorporated that sought to nullify the agreement between then-ABC5 and Malaysian company Media Prima Berhad and Primedia.penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, upheld the Court of Appeals ruling dated October 16, 2012 that affirmed the Quezon City Regional Trial Court’s ruling.
The High Court added that the lower court was right in pointing to the National Telecommunications Commission to address the factual issues raised by GMA Network.The concern started in 2008 when it was reported that ABC5 sold all its airtime to Primedia, except for news and Christian programming, through a Blocktime Agreement. Allegedly, the acquisition was part of the Media Prima Berhad’s investment strategy to build a company in the Philippines which it would be the 70% owner.
The petitioners added that Primedia’s control and management undermined the nationalized broadcast media and allegedly resulted in unfair competition among local broadcast networks.