Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 5731)
The franchise is granted for a period of fifty years from the approval of the Amendatory Act.
The Network is allowed to construct, maintain, and operate radio broadcasting stations and television stations for commercial purposes and in the public interest.
The grantee must provide adequate public service time to enable the Government to reach the population on important public issues, assist in public information and education, conform to the ethics of honest enterprise, and avoid broadcasting obscene or indecent content or deliberately false information.
The franchise prohibits using the stations for broadcasting obscene or indecent language, speech, acts or scenes; dissemination of deliberately false information; willful misrepresentation; acts detrimental to public health; or content that incites subversive or treasonable acts.
The grantee must file a bond in the amount of fifty thousand pesos to guarantee fulfillment of the conditions. This bond may be canceled after four years if all conditions are met.
Any more favorable terms granted to a competing franchise shall automatically become part of the terms of this franchise, ensuring no disadvantage to the grantee.
The grantee must pay the same taxes on real estate, buildings, and personal property as other persons or corporations, excluding the franchise tax. Additionally, the grantee must pay all other taxes as provided by the National Internal Revenue Code due to this franchise.
The Government may operate any or all of the authorized stations by requiring the grantee to turn them over, provided just and reasonable compensation is paid for their use.
No. The grantee cannot lease, transfer, grant usufruct, sell, assign, or merge the franchise or rights without prior approval from the Congress of the Philippines.
Any entity to which the franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to all the conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of the original franchise as if originally granted to that entity.