January 18, 2019

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11193

AN ACT GRANTING THE MALINDANG BROADCASTING NETWORK CORPORATION A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, ESTABLISH, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS IN MINDANAO

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 Malindang Broadcasting Network Corporation, hereunder referred to as the grantee, its successors or assignees, a franchise to construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio and/or television broadcasting stations in Mindanao, where frequencies and/or channels are still available for radio and/or television broadcasting, including digital television system, through microwave, satellite or whatever means, including the use of any new technology in television and radio systems, with the corresponding technological auxiliaries and facilities, special broadcast and other program and distribution services and relay stations.

SECTION 2. Manner of Operation of Stations or Facilities. — The stations or facilities of the grantee shall be constructed and operated in a manner as will, at most, result only in the minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of existing stations or other stations which may be established by law, without in any way diminishing its own privilege to use its assigned wavelengths or frequencies and the quality of transmission or reception thereon as should maximize rendition of the grantee's services and/or the availability thereof.

SECTION 3. Prior Approval of the National Telecommunications Commission. — The grantee shall secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction and operation of its stations or facilities and shall not use any frequency in the radio/television spectrum without authorization from the NTC. The NTC, however, shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any such authority.

The grantee shall not dispose or lease its facilities except to entities with radio or television broadcasting franchise: Provided, That the grantee shall inform and secure written authorization to proceed from the NTC, and report the transaction to the NTC within sixty (60) days after its completion: Provided, further, That the NTC shall determine the corresponding sanction for any violation of this provision.

SECTION 4. Responsibility to the Public. — The grantee shall provide adequate public service time to enable the government, through the said broadcasting stations or facilities, to inform the population on important public issues; provide at all times sound and balanced programming; assist in the performance of the functions of public information and education; conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and to refrain from broadcasting obscene and indecent language, speech, act or scene, or disseminating deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation to the detriment of the public interest; or inciting, encouraging, or assisting in subversive or treasonable acts.

SECTION 5. Right of the Government. — The radio spectrum is a finite resource that is part of the national patrimony and the use thereof is a privilege conferred upon the grantee by the State and may be withdrawn any time after due process.

A special right is hereby reserved to the President of the Philippines, in times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace and order; to temporarily take over and operate the stations or facilities of the grantee; to temporarily suspend the operation of any station or facility in the interest of public safety, security and public welfare; or to 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 or facilities during the period when these shall be so operated.

SECTION 6. Term of Franchise. — This franchise shall be in effect for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the effectivity of this Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked in the event the grantee fails to comply with any of the following conditions:

(a) Commence operations within one (1) year from the approval of its operating permit by the NTC;

(b) Commence operations within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act; and

(c) Operate continuously for two (2) years.

SECTION 7. Acceptance of Franchise. — Acceptance of the terms of this franchise shall be given in writing to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Philippine Senate, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act. Upon giving such acceptance, the grantee shall exercise the privileges granted under this Act.

Nonacceptance of this franchise shall render it void.

SECTION 8. Bond. — The grantee shall file a bond with the NTC, in the amount that the NTC shall determine, to guarantee compliance with and fulfillment of the conditions under which this franchise is granted. If, after three (3) years from the date of the approval of its permit by the NTC, the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond shall be released by the NTC. Otherwise, the bond shall be forfeited in favor of the government and the franchise ipso facto revoked.

SECTION 9. Self-Regulation by and Undertaking of the Grantee. — The grantee shall not require any previous censorship of any speech, play, act or scene, or other matter to be broadcast from its stations: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast, shall cut off the airing of speech, play, act or scene, 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: Provided, further, That willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of this franchise.

SECTION 10. Warranty in Favor of the National and Local Governments. — The grantee shall hold the national, provincial, city, and municipal governments of the Philippines free from all claims, liabilities, demands, or actions arising out of accidents causing injury to persons or damage to properties, during the construction or operation of the stations of the grantee.

SECTION 11. Sale, Lease, Transfer, Usufruct, or Assignment of Franchise. — The grantee shall not sell, lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, 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 other corporation or entity, nor the controlling interest of 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: Provided, That Congress shall be informed of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or assignment of franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder, or of the merger or transfer of the controlling interest of the grantee, within sixty (60) days after the completion of the said transaction: Provided, further, That failure to report to Congress such change of ownership shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked: Provided, finally, That any person or entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred or assigned, shall be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of this Act.

SECTION 12. Dispersal of Ownership. — In accordance with the constitutional provision to encourage public participation in public utilities, the grantee shall offer to Filipino citizens at least thirty percent (30%) or a higher percentage that may hereafter be provided by law of its outstanding capital stock in any securities exchange in the Philippines within five (5) years from the commencement of its operations: Provided, That in cases where public offer of shares is not applicable, establishment of cooperatives and other methods of encouraging public participation by citizens and corporations operating public utilities such as stock sharing with employees' organization must be implemented.

Noncompliance therewith shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked.

SECTION 13. Reportorial Requirement. — The grantee shall submit an annual report to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Philippine Senate, on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the franchise and on its operations on or before April 30 of every year during the term of its franchise. The reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress shall be required before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by the NTC.

SECTION 14. Fine. — Failure of the grantee to submit the requisite annual report to Congress shall be penalized by a fine in the amount of five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working day of noncompliance. The fine shall be collected separately by the NTC distinct from the penalties it imposes for noncompliance of its own reportorial requirements.

SECTION 15. Equality Clause. — Except for taxes and customs duties, any advantage, favor, privilege, exemption, or immunity granted under existing franchises, or which may hereafter be granted for radio and/or television broadcasting, upon prior review and approval of Congress, shall become part of this franchise and shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the herein grantee: Provided, That the foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect the provisions of a broadcasting franchise pertaining to the term, the type of service, or the territorial coverage of the franchise.

SECTION 16. Repealability and Nonexclusivity 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 17. Separability Clause. — If any of the sections or provisions of this Act is held invalid, all other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.

SECTION 18. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts or provisions thereof which are not consistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 19. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved: January 18, 2019.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 115, No. 10, p. 2238 on March 11, 2019.

Source: CDAsia Online