REPUBLIC ACT No. 2044
An Act Granting Joseph De Castro a Franchise to Construct, Install, Maintain and Operate Radiotelegraph and/or Radiotelephone Stations in Manila, Legaspi, Tacloban, Davao, Zamboanga and Cagayan De Oro
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:
Section 1. There is hereby granted Joseph de Castro, Filipino, of legal age, with residence and postal address at 21 Spencer Street, Cubao, Quezon City, his successors and assigns, and hereunder referred to as the "grantee," a franchise to construct, install, maintain and operate radiotelegraph and/or radiotelephone stations in Manila, Legaspi, Tacloban, Davao, Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro, in the domestic point-to-point and coastal maritime service with the corresponding relay stations for the reception and transmission of wireless messages on radiotelephony and/or radiotelegraphy, or both, with vessels at sea and aircrafts in the air within or without the Philippines.
Section 2. This grant shall continue for a period of fifty years from the date said stations shall be put in operation: Provided, However, That at least three such stations shall be established and ready for operation within the period of six months after the approval of this Act.
Section 3. The President of the Philippines shall have the power and authority to permit the location on the public domain, upon such terms as he may prescribe, any or all of the land radio stations that may be established under this grant.
Section 4. A special right is reserved to the President of the Philippines in time of war, insurrection, public peril, calamity or disaster to cause the closing of the station or to authorize the temporary use or possession thereof by any department of the Government, upon payment of just compensation.
Section 5. The grantee, his successors or assigns, shall hold the national, provincial and municipal governments of the Philippines harmless from all claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or to persons, caused by the construction, or operation of the stations for reception and transmission of wireless messages by the grantee, his successors or assigns.
Section 6. The grantee, his successors or assigns, shall so construct and operate his radio stations as not to interfere with the operation of other radio stations maintained and operated in the Philippines.
Section 7. No private property shall be taken of any purpose by the grantee of this franchise, his successors or assigns, without proper condemnation proceedings and just compensation tendered therein, and authority to take and occupy land contained herein shall not authorize the taking, use, or occupation of any land except such as is required for the actual necessary purposes for which the franchise is granted. All lands or rights of use and occupation of lands granted to the grantee, his successors or assigns, shall, upon the termination of this franchise or upon its revocation or repeal, revert to the national, provincial or municipal government to which such land or right to use and occupy belonged at the time of the grant thereof or the right to use and occupy the same was conceded to the grantee herein, his successors or assigns.
Section 8. The right to fix the maximum rates or charges to be charged by the grantee is reversed to the Government of the Philippines through the Public Service Commission or such other government agency as may hereafter be duly authorized.1âшphi1
Section 9. The grantee shall keep a separate account of the gross receipts of business transacted by it in the Philippines and shall furnish the Auditor General and the Treasurer of the Philippines a copy of such account not later than the thirty-first day of January of each year for the preceding year. For the purpose of auditing the accounts surrendered to the Auditor General and National Treasurer, all the books and accounts of the grantee, or duplicates thereof, so far as they relate to the business transacted in the Philippines shall be kept in the Philippines and shall be subject to the official inspection of the Auditor General or his authorized representatives, and the audit or approval of such accounts shall be final and conclusive evidence as to the amount of said gross receipts, except that the grantee shall have the right to appeal to the courts of the Philippines, under the terms and conditions provided in the laws of the Philippines.
Section 10. As a condition of the granting of this franchise the grantee shall execute a bond in favor of the Government of the Philippines in the sum of fifty thousand pesos, in a form and with sureties satisfactory to the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the grantee’s obligations hereunder during the first three years of the life of this franchise. If, after three years from the date of the acceptance of this franchise, the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be cancelled by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.
Section 11. Acceptance of this franchise shall be given in writing within three months after approval of this Act. When so accepted by the grantee and upon the approval of the bond aforesaid by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted hereby.
Section 12. The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell or assign this franchise, nor the rights or privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any other person, company or corporation organized for the same purpose, without the approval of the Congress of the Philippines first had. Any corporation to which this franchise may be sold, transferred, or assigned, shall be subject to the corporation laws of the Philippines now existing or hereafter enacted, and any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to all conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this franchise as fully and completely and to the same extent as if the franchise had been originally granted to the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.
Section 13. This franchise shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires, and shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.
Section 14. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 23, 1957.
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