A shutdown proposal that would have left thousands of ABS-CBN employees and retirees without their due benefits was defeated by the majority of the media company’s board of directors, the company disclosed Wednesday.
In an April 15 statement, ABS-CBN confirmed that one of its directors had put forward the proposal to close operations — but without settling financial obligations to workers and pensioners. The board majority blocked it, citing its responsibilities to employees, retirees, and other stakeholders.
The disclosure came as ABS-CBN pushed back against what it described as sustained “PR attacks” linked to an ongoing dispute within the Lopez family, which controls the company through holding firm Lopez Inc.
The corporate conflict surfaced in March when businessman Federico “Piki” Lopez filed a lawsuit against his cousins — fellow directors at Lopez Inc. — alleging they had illegally removed him as company president. A court order temporarily restored the status quo, but the fallout continued to ripple through ABS-CBN’s public communications.
The company has since been issuing statements contesting various claims that emerged from the dispute. On March 30, it flatly denied allegations of “unresolved audit findings,” stating: “There were no audit findings. There is nothing to resolve.” It similarly rejected claims of executive payouts, saying “no such payouts have been made. No such payouts are planned.”
Wednesday’s statement addressed fresh claims about the company’s pension fund. ABS-CBN said the fund’s steepest decline resulted not from mismanagement, but from legally mandated payouts to nearly 6,000 employees retrenched after it lost its broadcast franchise in 2020. “This is proof of ABS-CBN’s commitment to fully meet all its obligations to its employees,” the statement read.
ABS-CBN’s 25-year legislative franchise lapsed in May 2020. The House of Representatives denied its renewal bid two months later. The company has since shifted to content production and distribution, with programming carried by partner networks.
On the matter of 68 individuals cited in recent press releases as receiving priority retirement treatment, ABS-CBN offered a different account. It said most of those individuals were retirees who had already left the company but had yet to receive their full pension payments — and had agreed to defer collection until the company’s finances stabilized, precisely so that separated employees could receive complete separation pay.
“They did not get preferential treatment,” the company said.
ABS-CBN also denied that a P2 billion capital infusion was intended to fund retirement payouts, calling those claims false.
Addressing the broader dispute, the company drew a line between corporate governance and family politics: “This is a family dispute and should remain so.” It added that whether recent decisions reflect proper stewardship of the Lopez legacy was ultimately “for the public to decide.”
The Lopez Group had not issued a response as of the time of publication.
