ABS-CBN pays its debts

I had an inkling it was coming. But that didn't lessen the shock nor the sadness when I learned that ABS-CBN is selling a large part of its historic headquarters in Quezon City to property developer Ayala Land.

- BOO CHANCO

So, that is how my professional home for many years will end up...a pile of rocks to make way for yet another condominium or mall development.

ABS-CBN will sell to ALI 30,000 square meters of its 44,027-sqm Broadcast Center in Quezon City for P6.2 billion to pay off debts. ABS-CBN will consolidate its existing operations in the remaining 1.4 hectares where the ELJ Center stands.

This development makes business sense because the Quezon City property is a very valuable asset that is no longer maximized now given ABS-CBN's lack of franchise.

But for us Kapamilyas, selling the crown jewel is the ultimate blow. And this was not the first time selling it was considered. But this time, it seems pretty final. In both cases, the reasons are the same...political backlash from an unfriendly tenant in Malacañang and the need to pay debt.

An earlier attempt to sell everything was revealed in the biography of Geny Lopez. After martial law padlocked ABS-CBN, negotiation was completed to sell to Kokoy Romualdez, the brother of Imelda Marcos and father of current Speaker Martin Romualdez. Geny said he had no choice and figured that a fire sale was better than nothing. To Geny, the sale to Kokoy would restart the network's operations which was important to him because Kokoy agreed to re-employ his 1,200 employees and he can repay the network's debts.