Grant of Public Radiotelephone Station Franchise to Edison C. Espinosa

July 7, 1995 *

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8101

AN ACT GRANTING EDISON C. ESPINOSA A FRANCHISE TO ESTABLISH, INSTALL, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN PUBLIC RADIOTELEPHONE COASTAL STATIONS IN REGION VI TO BE BASED IN ILOILO CITY AND BACOLOD CITY FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF RADIOTELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF THE PHILIPPINES

SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. — Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, there is hereby granted to Edison C. Espinosa, hereunder referred to as the grantee, its successors or assigns, a franchise to establish, install, operate and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, public radiotelephone coastal stations in Region VI to be based in Iloilo City and Bacolod City for the transmission and reception of radiotelephone communications with vessels at sea within and outside of the Philippines. cd

SECTION 2. Prior Approval of the National Telecommunications Commission. — The grantee shall secure from the National Telecommunications Commission the appropriate permits and licenses for its stations and shall not use any frequency in the radio spectrum without having been authorized by the Commission. The Commission, however, shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any such authority.

SECTION 3. Responsibility to the Public. — The grantee shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise and shall not use its stations for obscene or indecent transmission or for dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.

SECTION 4. Rates for Services. — The charges and rates for services, excluding the sale or lease of equipment or units that the grantee shall offer to the public shall be subject to the approval of the National Telecommunications Commission or its legal successor.

SECTION 5. Right of Government. — The President of the Philippines, in times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster or disturbance of peace and order, may temporarily take over and operate the stations, transmitter systems, facilities and equipment of the grantee, temporarily suspend the operation of any station in the interest of public safety, security and public welfare, or authorize the temporary use and operation thereof by any agency of the government, upon due compensation to the grantee, for the use of said stations, transmitter systems, facilities and equipment during the period when they shall be so operated.

SECTION 6. Term of Franchise. — This franchise shall be for a term of twenty-five (25) years from the date of effectivity of this Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled. In the event the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years, this franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked.

SECTION 7. Tax Provisions. — The grantee, its successors or assigns, shall be liable to pay the same taxes on their real estate, buildings and personal property, exclusive of this franchise, as other persons or corporations are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay. In addition thereto, the grantee, its successors or assigns, shall pay a franchise tax of three percent (3%) on all gross receipts of the business transacted under this franchise. The grantee, its successors or assigns, shall continue to be liable for income taxes payable under Title II of the National Internal Revenue Code pursuant to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 72 unless the latter enactment is amended or repealed, in which case the amendment or repeal shall be applicable thereto.

The grantee shall file the return with and pay the tax due thereon to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or his duly authorized representatives in accordance with the National Internal Revenue Code, and the return shall be subject to audit by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

SECTION 8. Sale, Lease, Transfer, Usufruct, etc. — The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell nor assign this franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Neither shall the controlling interest in the grantee be transferred, whether as a whole or in parts and whether simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any such person, firm, company, corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Any person or entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred or assigned, shall be subject to all the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of this Act.

SECTION 9. Separability Clause. — If any of the sections or provisions of this Act is held invalid, all the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.

SECTION 10. Repealability and Non-exclusivity Clause. — 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 11. Reportorial Requirement. — The grantee shall submit an annual report to the Congress of the Philippines on its compliance with the terms and conditions of its franchise and on its operations within sixty (60) days from the end of every year.

SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the date of its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

* Lapsed into law on July 7, 1995, without the signature of the President, in accordance with Article VI, Section 27 (1) of the Constitution.

Published in the Manila Times and the Philippine Times Journal on October 25, 1995. Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 92 No. 2 page 139 on January 8, 1996.