FALSE: Senator Cynthia Villar quote on buying ABS-CBN

At a glance

• Claim: Senator Cynthia Villar says: “So what if we buy ABS-CBN?” 
• Rating: FALSE 
• Facts: Last January 25, the National Telecommunications Commission granted Advanced Media Broadcasting Systems, owned by Villar’s husband Manny Villar, the television frequencies used to be assigned to ABS-CBN. However, there are no official reports, statements or recordings to prove that Senator Villar said this quote. 
• Why we fact checked this: This claim was emailed to Rappler multiple times. The original Facebook post containing the claim has over 2,100 shares, 408 comments and 1,300 shares, as of writing.

Complete details

A Facebook post dated January 27 claims that Senator Cynthia Villar said the following statement: “Eh, ano ngayon kung bilhin namin ang ABS-CBN. May pera naman kami. Nagsusumikap kami sa trabaho. Yung iba jan, 18 hours daw, pero wala ka makita kahit isang eyebag. Ano siya robot?” 

(So what if we buy ABS-CBN? We have the money. We work very hard. Other people say they work for 18 hours, but you don’t even see them with a single eye bag. What are they, robots?)

In the post, a photo of Villar was placed next to the quote and with the logos of ABS-CBN News below. As of writing, the post has over 2,100 shares, 408 comments, and 1,300 shares. The post was also emailed to Rappler multiple times for fact-checking. 

This claim is false. 

There are no official reports, statements, or recordings to prove that Villar said this. 

Villar is the wife of billionaire and former Senate president Manny Villar, owner of Advanced Media Broadcasting Systems (AMBS). Last January 5, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted AMBS access to television frequencies that were previously assigned to ABS-CBN, Channel 2, and Channel 16. Congress did not renew ABS-CBN’s franchise when it expired almost two years ago. (READ: TIMELINE: ABS-CBN distributes ABS-CBN frequencies) 

ABS-CBN is still owned by Lopez Holdings Corporation and led by Chairman Martin L. Lopez. The Villar family owns the property developer Vista Land, shopping-center developer Starmalls Incorporated, and housing and condominium developer Golden Bria. 

The quote card was also a manipulated version of an ABS-CBN quote card that circulated in August 2020, featuring another quote that Senator Villar actually said. She has not made any recent statements regarding this issue or the ABS-CBN Network. – Sofia Guanzon/Rappler.com

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