MANILA- Malacañang dismissed Thursday a prelate's claim that taking ABS-CBN off air evokes "a specter of martial law," saying the present-day situation is far from the 1972 military rule.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila on Thursday criticized the National Telecommunications Commission's order for the Philippine's largest media outfit to stop broadcasting on Tuesday due to its stalled franchise renewal.

"Nasasakal na kami. The specter of Martial Law is coming up," he said.

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Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque denied the bishop's claims, saying other media outlets remain open aside from ABS-CBN.

"Bukas po ang mga media outlet bukod lamang po sa ABS-CBN dahil nawalan nga siya ng prangkisa. So sa tingin ko po malayong-malayo tayo sa sitwasyon ng martial law noong 1972," Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

(Other media outlets remain open aside from ABS-CBN which lost its franchise. I think we are far from the martial law situation in 1972.)

Several journalists and rights groups have expressed support for ABS-CBN, saying the shutdown order was a curtailment of press freedom.

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Roque added that ABS-CBN can avail of remedies from Congress or from courts.

"Nirerespeto po natin ang desisyon ni Bishop pero ang katotohanan po bukas po ang Kongreso, bukas po ang ating Supreme Court at ating ibang mga hukuman," he said.

(We respect the decision of the bishop but the truth is Congress, the Supreme Court, and other courts remain open.)

ABS-CBN went off air on Tuesday night in compliance with the NTC's "cease and desist" order. The last time ABS-CBN was forced off air was during the imposition of Martial Law in 1972.

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The company's franchise expired on May 4, while bills for its franchise renewal, some filed since 2016, continued to languish in Congress.

While the Palace had distanced itself from the franchise issue, it could be recalled that President Rodrigo Duterte had repeatedly said he was against the franchise renewal.

On December 3, 2019, Duterte threatened to block ABS-CBN’s application for a new franchise, saying, “I will see to it that you are out.” By the end of the same month, he urged the broadcast giant's owners to just sell ABS-CBN Corp.

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