ABS-CBN (lost final sign-off of Filipino TV channel; 1972)

Logo used from 1967 to 1972.

Status: Lost

On September 23rd, 1972, then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. A day before, Marcos issued Letter of Instruction No. 1, authorizing the military to take over the assets of major media companies at that time. ABS-CBN and ABC-5 was then forced to shut down, being accused of a conspiracy with the communist party, with Marcos saying that the owners and officers of both networks were "engaged in subversive activities against the government" and are "participants in a conspiracy to overthrow the government." DZAQ-TV, renamed DWWX-TV in 1972 was then turned over to Roberto Benedicto under Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation in 1973 with DZXL-TV channel 4 turned over to the National Media Production Center and became GTV-4 in 1974, turning into a government-owned station.

Claims

One of the most widely popular claims is ABS-CBN was signing off by the time Marcos aired the announcement on the 23rd of September, which are accepted by some people. However, this is false.

Another claim which is stated by a lot of sources is ABS-CBN signing off before the raid of the military at midnight on September 22nd, 1972. This was said by the Ateneo's Department of Political Science website, Boo Chanco, the Supreme Court E-Library, and even an ABS-CBN cameraman himself. It is said at that time, then-Lt. Rolando Abadilla went to the Broadcast Center along Bohol Ave. in Quezon City to take over ABS-CBN and on the morning of 23rd, ABS-CBN was off-the-air now at that time, with only KBS-9 (now RPN-9/CNN Philippines) on-air in the afternoon.

Availability

The pre-1972 archives of ABS-CBN, along with its properties and its equipment, disappeared after the raid of the military. It is said to be they are burned in a fire or recycled into other materials. It also has a low chance of resurfacing due to the Philippines' situation about archiving at that time.