QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 10772)
The franchise is renewed for another twenty-five (25) years from July 1, 2017, and the Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
It is deemed ipso facto revoked if the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years.
It allows the grantee to construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain radio and/or television broadcasting stations for religious, noncommercial, and nonprofit purposes, including digital TV/radio systems and related technologies such as microwave, satellite, and other new technologies with auxiliary facilities and relay stations.
They must be constructed and operated to result at most in minimum interference with existing stations or those later established, without diminishing the grantee’s right to use its selected frequencies and the quality of transmission/reception.
The grantee must secure appropriate permits and licenses from the NTC and must not use any frequency in the radio/TV spectrum without NTC authorization; the NTC must not unreasonably withhold or delay granting such authority.
Provide adequate public service time for government reach on important issues; ensure sound and balanced programming; assist public information and education; conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and not broadcast obscene/indecent content or deliberately false information/misrepresentation to the detriment of the public interest or to incite/encourage/assist subversive or treasonable acts.
In times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace and order, the President may temporarily take over and operate the stations, temporarily suspend operations, or authorize temporary use by government agencies upon due compensation.
To emphasize that spectrum use is a privilege conferred by the State and may be withdrawn any time after due process.
The grantee must give written acceptance of the franchise to Congress within sixty (60) days from effectivity of the Act, through the relevant legislative committees, and must exercise the franchise privileges upon acceptance; noncompliance renders the franchise void.
No; the grantee shall not require any previous censorship of matters to be broadcast. However, during any broadcast it must cut off from the air any matter that tends to incite treason, rebellion, or sedition, or is indecent or immoral; willful failure can be a valid cause for cancellation of the franchise.
The grantee shall hold national, provincial, city, and municipal governments harmless from claims, accounts, demands, or actions from accidents or injuries to property or persons caused by the construction or operation of the grantee’s stations.
The grantee may not lease/transfer/grant usufruct/sell/assign the franchise or rights, nor merge, nor transfer controlling interest to another entity without prior approval of Congress.
Congress must be informed within sixty (60) days after completion of the transaction. Failure to report renders the franchise ipso facto revoked.
The grantee must comply with and be subject to a general broadcast policy law that Congress may enact later.
Any advantage/favor/privilege/exemption granted under existing or future franchises (after prior review and approval by Congress) becomes part of this franchise and is accorded immediately and unconditionally to the grantee; however, it does not apply to franchise provisions about territory, franchise life span, or type of service authorized, and it does not apply to transfers/sale/lease/usufruct/assignment of a legislative franchise even if with prior Congressional approval.
The grantee must submit an annual report to Congress (through the specified legislative committees) on compliance with franchise terms and its operations on or before April 30 of the succeeding year.
A fine of five hundred pesos (₱500.00) per working day of noncompliance, collected by the NTC separately from NTC reportorial penalties; the collected funds accrue to the NTC monitoring fund, and a reportorial compliance certificate from Congress is required before any NTC application is accepted.