Grant of Radio Broadcasting Franchise to Mario P. Chanco

June 19, 1959

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2298

AN ACT GRANTING MARIO P. CHANCO A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

SECTION 1.  Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, Mario P. Chanco is hereby granted a franchise, which shall continue in force during the time that the Government has not established similar service at the places selected by the grantee, to construct, maintain and operate, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio broadcasting stations in the Philippines: Provided, That this franchise shall be void unless the construction of at least one radio broadcasting station be begun within two years from the date of approval of this Act, and be 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 stations, to reach the population on important public issues; shall assist in the function of public information and education; shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and shall not use its 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. cd i

SECTION 2.  Such provision 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 Island, 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, as are applicable to radio broadcasting stations, shall be applied, as far as practicable, to the radio broadcasting stations referred to in section one.

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

SECTION 4.  The grantee, its successors or assigns, shall hold the National, provincial, city and municipal government of the Republic of the Philippines harmless from all claims, accounts, demands or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or persons, caused by the construction or operation of its radio stations.

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. casia

SECTION 6.  (a) 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 or corporations are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay.

(b)  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 7.  In the event the Government should desire to maintain and operate for itself any or all of the 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.  A special right is herein reserved of the President of the Philippines in time of war, rebellion, public peril, emergency, calamity, disaster or disturbance of peace or order to cause the closing of said stations 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.

SECTION 9.  The grantee shall not require any previous censorship of any speech, play or other matter to be broadcast or shown form its stations; but if any such 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 them thereof is indecent or immoral. cdt

SECTION 10.  The temporary permit granted under this Act 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 privilege herein provided for.

SECTION 11.  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 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 of the franchise has been originally granted to the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.

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

Approved: June 19, 1959

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 55, No. 31, p. 5999 on August 3, 1959