REPUBLIC ACT No. 3189
An Act Granting the "Y" Electric Power of Pasay City a Franchise to Construct, Operate and Maintain Radio Broadcasting and Television Stations in the Philippines, and Public Coastal Radiotelephone and Radiotelegraph Stations with the Corresponding Relay Stations for the Reception and Transmission of Radio Communications Within the Philippines not at Present Served by Public Radiotelephone or Radiotelegraph Systems
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:
Section 1. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, as well as of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred forty-six, entitled "An Act providing for the regulation of radio stations and radio communications in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes"; Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred forty-six, known as the Public Service Act, and their amendments, and other applicable laws not inconsistent with this Act, the "Y" Electric Power of Pasay City is hereby granted a franchise to construct, establish, operate and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio broadcasting and television stations in the Philippines and public coastal radiotelephone and radiotelegraph stations with corresponding relay stations such as mobile land based radio stations together with such other radio stations as may be necessary for the operation of the service, for the reception and transportation of radio communications within the Philippines not at present served by public radiotelephone or radiotelegraph stations; Provided, the this franchise shall be void until the construction of at least one radio broadcasting station or one television station be begun within two year from the date of approval of this Act, and completed within four years from said date: Provided, further, That the grantee shall provide adequate public service time to enable the Government, through the said radio broadcasting and television stations to reach the population on important public issues; shall assist in the functions of public information and education; shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and shall not use its stations for the broadcasting and/or telecasting of obscene or indecent language, speech, act or scene, or for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or to the detriment of the public health, or to incite, encourage, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.
Section 2. 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 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.1avvphi1 If, after four years from the date of acceptance of this franchise, the grantee shall have fulfilled said obligations, or as soon thereafter as the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be cancelled by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.
Section 3. In the event of any competing person, natural or juridical, receiving from the Congress a similar franchise in which there shall be any term or terms more favorable than those herein granted or tending to place the herein grantee at any disadvantage, then such term or terms shall ipso facto become a part of the terms hereof and shall operate equally in favor of the grantee as in the case of said competing person.
Section 4. A special right is reserved to the President of the Philippines in time of war, rebellion, public peril, emergency, calamity, disaster or disturbance of peace and order, to cause the closing of said stations or to authorize the temporary use and operation thereof by any department of the Government upon due compensation to the grantee for the use of said stations during the period when they shall be so operated.
Section 5. The stations of the grantee shall be so constructed and operated in accordance with established engineering standards and practice and subject to existing radio laws and regulations and the frequencies or wave lengths shall be selected with a view to avoiding interference with the operation of other radio stations in the Philippines.
Section 6. The grantee shall not require any previous censorship of any speech, play, act or scene or other matter to be broadcast and/or telecast from its stations; but if any such speech, play, act or scene or other matter should constitute a violation of the law or infringement of a private right, the grantee shall be free from any liability, civil or criminal, for such speech, play, act or scene or other matter: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast and/or telecast, shall cut off from the air the speech, play, act or scene or other matter being broadcast and or telecast, if the tendency thereof is, to propose and or incite treason, rebellion or sedition, or the language used therein or the theme thereof is indecent or immoral, and willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of this franchise.
Section 7. The grantee 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 owned by the construction or operation of the stations of the grantee.
Section 8. No private property shall be taken for any purpose by the grantee without proper condemnation proceedings and just compensation paid or tendered therefor, and any authority to take and occupy land contained herein shall not apply to the taking, use or occupation of any land except such as is required for the actual necessary purpose for which this franchise is granted.
Section 9. The right is hereby reserved to the Government of the Philippines, through the Public Service Commission, to fix the maximum rates of charges to be charged by the grantee.
Section 10. The grantee shall keep an account of the gross receipts of the business transacted by it and shall furnish the Auditor General and the National 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 rendered to the Auditor General and the National Treasurer, all the books and accounts of the grantee, or duplicates thereof, shall be subject to the official inspection of the Auditor General or his authorized representatives, and the audit and approval of such accounts by said officers 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 11. Acceptance of this franchise shall be given in writing within six months after the approval of this Act. When so accepted by the grantee and upon approval of the bond aforesaid by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted thereby.
Section 12. The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell or assign this franchise nor the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, natural or juridical, nor merge with any other person without the previous approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Any person, natural or juridical, to which this franchise is sold, transferred or assigned, shall be subject to all the 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 such person.
Section 13. The franchise hereby granted shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires.
Section 14. The grantee shall be liable to pay the same taxes on its real estate, buildings and personal property, exclusive of the franchise, as other persons, natural or juridical, are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay.
The grantee shall further be liable to pay all other taxes that may be imposed by the National Internal Revenue Code by reason of this franchise.
Section 15. This franchise shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.1âшphi1
Section 16. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 17, 1961.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
