Grant of Franchise to University of Santo Tomas (Radio Station)

June 12, 1954

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1049

AN ACT GRANTING THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE A RADIO BROADCASTING STATION IN THE CITY OF MANILA FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES

SECTION 1. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, as well as of Act Numbered Three thousand 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;" Act Numbered Three thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, known as the Radio Broadcasting Law; 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 University of Santo Tomas is hereby granted a franchise to construct, maintain and operate, for educational purposes and in the public interest, a radio broadcasting station in the City of Manila.

SECTION 2. This franchise shall continue for a period of twenty-five years from the date the said station shall be put in operation, and is granted upon the express condition that the same shall be void unless the construction of said station be begun within six months from the date of approval of this Act and be completed within two years from said date.

SECTION 3. This franchise is likewise made upon the express condition that the grantee shall contribute to the public welfare, shall assist in the functions of public information and education, shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise, and shall not use its station 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 4. The grantee's radio broadcasting station shall not be put in actual operation until the Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall have allotted to the grantee the frequency and wave length to be used under this franchise and issued to the grantee license for such use.

SECTION 5.  The radio broadcasting station of the grantee shall be so constructed and operated and the wave length so selected as to avoid interference with existing radio stations and to permit of the expansion of the grantee's services.

SECTION 6. A special right is reserved to the President of the Philippines, in time of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, disaster or disturbance or peace or order, to cause the closing of said station or to authorize the temporary use and operation thereof by any department of the Government without compensating the grantee for the use of said station during the period when they shall be so operated. cd i

SECTION 7. The grantee shall be liable to pay the same taxes, unless exempted therefrom, on its real estate, buildings, and personal property, exclusive of the franchise, as other persons or corporations are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay.

SECTION 8. 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 9. Acceptance of this franchise shall be given in writing by the grantee within six months after the approval of this Act. When so accepted, the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted thereby.

SECTION 10. 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, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any other 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 11. This franchise shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.

SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 12, 1954

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 50, No. 7, p. 2938 in July 1954.