The Philippines’ telecoms body ordered the country’s leading broadcaster ABS-CBN Corp to cease operations on Tuesday, as a parliament dominated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s loyalists dragged its feet over renewing its license. Duterte has repeatedly threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, after the channel angered him during the 2016 presidential election by refusing to air his campaign commercials. Opposition lawmakers described the order for the channel to suspend operations as “ill-timed” given the need to inform the public in the battle against the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
