Grant of Radio Broadcasting Franchise to Acis D. Rollorata

June 17, 1961

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3228

AN ACT GRANTING ACIS D. ROLLORATA A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

SECTION 1.  Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, as well as of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and 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 Thirty-nine hundred and ninety-seven, known as the Radio Broadcasting Law; Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred and forty-six, known as the Public Service Act, and their amendments, and other applicable laws, Acis D. Rollorata is hereby granted a franchise to construct, maintain and operate, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio broadcasting stations in the Philippines for a period of twenty-five years: Provided, That this franchise shall be void unless the construction of at least one radio broadcasting station is begun within two years 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 stations herein authorized, 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 said stations for the broadcasting of obscene or indecent language or speech, 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. acd

SECTION 2.  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 hereinbelow mentioned by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted thereby. casia

SECTION 3.  The grantee shall file a bond in the amount of fifty thousand pesos to guarantee the full compliance and fulfillment of the conditions under which this franchise is granted.

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 frequencies and wave lengths to be used under this franchise and issued to the grantee a license for such use. aisa dc

SECTION 5.  In the event of any competing individual, partnership or corporation 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 part of the terms hereof and shall operate equally in favor of the grantee as in the case of said competing individual, partnership or corporation.

SECTION 6.  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, caused by the construction or operation of the stations of the grantee.

SECTION 7. In the event the Government should desire to maintain and operate for itself any or all of the radio broadcasting stations herein authorized, the grantee shall turn over such station or stations to the Government with all the serviceable equipment therein, at cost, less reasonable depreciation.

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.  The grantee shall be liable to pay the same taxes on his 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 and that the grantee shall further be liable to pay all taxes that may be imposed by the National Internal Revenue Code by reason of this franchise.

SECTION 10.  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 11.  The grantee shall not require any previous censorship of speech, play or other matter to be broadcast from his stations; but if any speech, play 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 or other matter: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast, may cut off from the air the speech, play or other matter being broadcast 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.

SECTION 12.  The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell or 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 other company or corporation organized for the same purpose without the previous approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Any corporation 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 the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.

SECTION 13.  This franchise 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 17, 1961

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 58, No. 7, p. 1266 on February 12, 1962