MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – TV5, ABS-CBN, hindi kayo nag-iisa (you are not alone.)

In a hurriedly-called press conference last night, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jointly announced that following the recent merger of broadcast networks TV and ABS-CBN, several other media entities have submitted merger applications

Both the NTC and SEC see this development as positive indication that the country’s news media companies are finally getting their act together — strengthening their respective hold on Filipino news consumers while beefing up their resources in view of tight competition not only amongst themselves but with social media and netizen journalism.

The proposed mergers are as follows:

1. 1. TV5 and ABS-CBN (under review by NTC)
2. 2. IBC 13 and PTV 4 (both government-owned)
3. 3. Bombo Radyo and Radyo Pilipinas
4. 4. Abante Tonight and Philippine Star
5. 5. Rappler and The Adobo Chronicles

The two government agencies said they will look closely at the applications of these media entities to make sure that there is no violation of existing laws on monopoly and media ownership.