[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6248, June 19, 1971 ]
AN ACT GRANTING THE PHILIPPINE BANKING CORPORATION A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, ESTABLISH, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN PRIVATE FIXED POINT-TO-POINT, COASTAL AND LAND MOBILE RADIO STATIONS FOR THE RECEPTION AND TRANSMISSION OF RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN THE PHILIPPINES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section 1. There is hereby granted to the Philippine Banking Corporation a franchise, for a period of fifty years from the date of the approval of this Act, to construct, establish, operate and maintain in the Philippines, at such places as the grantee may select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, private fixed point-to-point, coastal and land mobile radio stations, for the reception and transmission of wireless messages on radiotelegraph or radiotelephone, each to be provided with a radio transmitting apparatus and a radio receiving apparatus.
Section 2. The President of the Philippines shall have the Power and authority to permit the location of said private fixed point-to-point, coastal and land mobile radio stations or any of them on lands of the public domain upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe.
Section 3. This franchise is granted upon the express condition that the same shall be void unless the construction of at least one of the said stations be begun within one year from the date of approval of this Act and be competed within two years from said date.
Section 4. The grantee shall not engage in the business of telecommunications in the Philippines without further special assent of the Congress of the Philippines, it being understood that the purpose of this franchise is to secure to the grantee the right to construct, establish, operate and maintain private fixed point-to-point, coastal and land mobile radio stations in such places within the Philippines as the interest of the grantee and of its trade and business may justify.
Section 5. The grantee shall be subject to the corporation laws of the Philippines now existing or which may hereafter be enacted.
Section 6. This franchise shall not take effect until the Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall have allotted to the grantee the frequencies and wave lengths to be used thereunder, but the grantee may use the international distress frequency of five hundred kilocycles whenever necessary.
Section 7. No fees shall be charged by the grantee in connection with this franchise, inasmuch as the radio stations that may be established by virtue of this Act shall engage in communications regarding the grantee's business only.1âшphi1
Section 8. The grantee shall so construct and operate its radio stations as not to interfere with the operation of other stations maintained and operated in the Philippines.
Section 9. The grantee shall hold the national, provincial and municipal governments of the Philippines free 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 its radio stations.
Section 10. 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, firm, 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 which may hereafter be 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 11. A special right is hereby reserved to the President of the Philippines in time of war, insurrection, public peril, emergency, calamity or disaster to cause the closing of the grantee's radio stations or to authorize the temporary use or possession thereof by any department of the Government upon payment of just compensation.
Section 12. Whenever in this franchise the term "grantee" is used it shall be held and understood to mean the Philippine Banking Corporation, its representatives, successors or assigns, unless the context indicates otherwise.
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 to mean as an exclusive grant of the privilleges herein provided for.
Section 14. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved, June 19, 1971.
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