Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 6251)
Republic Act No. 6251 grants San Carlos Pangasinan Telephone Company, Inc. a franchise to install, operate, and maintain a telephone system in the City of San Carlos, and the municipalities of Malasiqui, Bayambang, Bautista, Alcala, and Basista, all in the Province of Pangasinan.
The franchise is granted for a period of twenty-five years from the approval of this Act.
The grantee is authorized to use all streets and public thoroughfares in the specified areas for construction, operation, and maintenance of apparatus, conductors, and appliances needed for electrical transmission, including erecting poles, stringing wires, building conduits, and laying cables on, over, or under public roads, highways, lands, bridges, streets, lanes, and sidewalks.
Poles and conduits must be located in places designated by city or municipal authorities, poles must not disfigure streets, wires and cables must be strung in accordance with professional standards approved by the Public Service Commission, poles must maintain wires at least fifteen feet above ground, and when there are many wires, they must be placed in one cable or laid underground if more than 800 pairs are carried.
Upon notice (at least 48 hours in advance) by the city or municipal board, the grantee must raise or remove wires or conduits obstructing such works. The person requesting the removal pays half the actual cost. If the grantee fails to comply, the city or municipal mayor may order the removal at the expense of the grantee.
All apparatus and appurtenances must be modern and first class in every respect. The telephone lines or installations must be kept and maintained adequately to render efficient telephone service and must be modified or improved as required by the Public Service Commission to keep up with scientific progress.
The grantee must pay a franchise tax equal to 5% of its gross earnings; 3% shall go to the National Government and 2% to the city or municipality where the franchise operates.
The grantee must first obtain a certificate of public necessity and convenience from the Public Service Commission authorizing such construction. No rights or privileges under the franchise may be exercised without this certificate.
If the grantee fails to start service within the set period, the Public Service Commission may declare the certificate null and void and forfeit the deposit made as liquidated damages, unless prevented by fortuitous cause or force majeure. The time of such prevention is added to the allowed period.
No, the grantee cannot transfer, sell, or assign the franchise without the explicit approval of the Congress of the Philippines, although the franchise may be mortgaged to government-owned or controlled financial institutions for business expansion.
The Philippine Government can use the poles without compensation for one ten-pin crossarm to install and maintain telegraph wires, and may place additional crossarms and wires by paying a rate agreed upon with the grantee or fixed by the Public Service Commission if there is disagreement.
The grantee must place poles and wires in designated areas without disfigurement or danger, follow professional standards for height and stringing, place multiple pairs of wires in a cable or underground as ordered, and comply with Public Service Commission plans to prevent danger to public safety.
No, the rights are not exclusive. The government may grant other franchises for telephone or electrical transmission services, but subsequent installations must not impair the efficiency of the grantee's existing installations and may require removal or relocation with costs borne by the new franchisee.
The grantee must deposit one thousand pesos or equivalent government bonds/securities as earnest of good faith. Failure to begin transmission within twelve months after certificate issuance causes the deposit to be forfeited as liquidated damages.