Grant of Temporary Permit to Ricardo Rocha (Radio Station)

August 12, 1952

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 819

AN ACT GRANTING MR. RICARDO ROCHA TEMPORARY PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE RADIO BROADCASTING STATION IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES

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, there is hereby granted to Mr. Ricardo Rocha hereinafter referred to as the "grantee", a temporary permit to construct, maintain and operate in Cebu City, Philippines, subject to approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, radio broadcasting station or stations: Provided, That the holder of the temporary permit herein granted shall start the operation thereof within one and a half years from the approval of said temporary permit. Failure to comply with this requirement shall ipso facto cancel and void the temporary permit.

SECTION 2. This temporary permit shall continue to be in force during the time that the Government has not established similar service at the places selected by the grantee.

SECTION 3. (a) This temporary permit shall not take effect nor shall any powers thereunder be exercised by the grantee until the Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall have allotted to the grantee the frequencies and wave lengths to be used thereunder and determined the stations to and from which each such frequency and wave length may be used, and issued to the grantee a license for such use.

(b) The Secretary of Public Works and Communications, on reasonable notice to the grantee, may at any time change, or cancel, or modify, in whole or in part, any or all of the allotments of frequencies or wave lengths to be used. He may take such action: (1) whenever in his judgment such frequencies and wave lengths have been used, or there is a danger that they will be used by the grantee to impair electrical communication, or stifle competition, or to obtain a monopoly in electrical communication, or to secure unreasonable rates for such communication, or otherwise to violate the laws or public policy of the Republic of the Philippines; (2) whenever in his judgment the public interests of the Philippines require that such frequencies or wave lengths should be used for other purposes than those of the grantee, either by the Government of the Philippines or by other individuals or corporations licensed by it; (3) whenever in his judgment for any reason the public interests of the Philippines so require.

(c) The Secretary of Public Works and Communications is authorized to appoint, employ or make use of such boards, commissions, or agents as in his discretion he may select, to investigate, and determine the facts upon which he may act as aforesaid, and such boards, commissions or agents shall have the right by compulsory process of subpoena, to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and take evidence.

SECTION 4. The stations of the grantee shall be so constructed and operated as to effect a minimum of interference with the wave lengths selected with a view to avoiding interference with existing stations and to permit of the expansion of the grantee's services.

SECTION 5. A special right is reserved to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, in time of war, insurrection, or public disorder to take over and operate the said stations upon the order and direction of the President of the Philippines.

SECTION 6. The right is hereby reserved to the Government of the Philippines, through the Public Service Commission, or such other office as may be thereunto duly authorized, to fix the maximum and minimum rates to be charged by the grantee.

SECTION 7. (a) The grantee shall be liable to pay the same taxes on its real estate, buildings, and personal property, exclusive of the temporary permit, 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 under the National Internal Revenue Code by reason of this temporary permit.

SECTION 8. 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 9. No private property shall be taken for any purpose by the grantee without proper condemnation proceedings and just compensation paid or tendered therefor, and any authority to take and occupy land contained herein shall not apply to the taking, use, or occupation of any land except such as is required for the actual necessary purposes for which this temporary permit is granted.

SECTION 10. It shall be unlawful for the grantee to use, employ, or contract, for the labor of persons held in involuntary servitude.

SECTION 11. The temporary permit hereby granted shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines, and the right to use or occupy public property and places hereby granted shall revert to the respective governments, upon the termination of this temporary permit, by repeal or by forfeiture, or expiration in due course.

SECTION 12. As a condition of the granting of this temporary permit the grantee shall execute a bond in favor of the Government of the Philippines, in the sum of ten thousand pesos, in form and with sureties satisfactory to the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the grantee's obligations hereunder during the first three years of the life of this temporary permit. If, after three years from the date of acceptance of this temporary permit, the grantee shall have fulfilled said obligations or soon thereafter as the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be cancelled by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.

SECTION 13. Acceptance of this temporary permit shall be given in writing within six months after approval of this Act. When so accepted by the grantee and upon the approval of the bond aforesaid by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted thereby. cd

SECTION 14. The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell or assign this temporary permit nor the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any company or corporation organized for the same purpose, without the approval of the Congress of the Philippines first had. Any corporation to which this temporary permit 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 temporary permit is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to all the conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this temporary permit as fully and completely and to the same extent as if the temporary permit has been originally granted to the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.

SECTION 15. This temporary permit shall not be interpreted to mean an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.

SECTION 16. The grantee shall not require any previous censorship or any speech, play or other matter to the broadcast from 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 shall 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, and willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of his permit.

SECTION 17. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: August 12, 1952

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 48, No. 10, p. 4246 in October 1952