Operation standards and interference
- Section 2 requires the stations or facilities to be constructed and operated in a manner that results in only the minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of existing stations or other stations that may be established by law.
- Section 2 requires that minimizing interference must be done without in any way diminishing the grantee’s own privilege to use its assigned wavelengths or frequencies.
- Section 2 requires that transmission/reception quality should be maximized to maximize the grantee’s services and/or the availability of those services.
NTC permits and frequency authorization
- Section 3 requires the grantee to secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) the appropriate permits and licenses for construction and operation of its stations or facilities.
- Section 3 prohibits the grantee from using any frequency in the radio/television spectrum without authorization from the NTC.
- Section 3 mandates that the NTC shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any authority.
- Section 3 prohibits the grantee from disposing or leasing its facilities except to entities that have radio or television broadcasting franchise.
- Section 3 requires the grantee to inform and secure written authorization to proceed from the NTC and to report the transaction to the NTC within sixty (60) days after its completion.
- Section 3 directs that the NTC shall determine the corresponding sanction for any violation of these facility disposition/lease requirements.
Public responsibility and programming obligations
- Section 4 requires the grantee to provide, free of charge, adequate public service time that is reasonable and sufficient to enable the government to relay important public announcements and warnings concerning public emergencies and calamities, as necessity, urgency, or law may require.
- Section 4 requires the grantee to provide sound and balanced programming at all times and to promote public participation.
- Section 4 requires the grantee to assist public information and education functions and to conform to the ethics of honest enterprise.
- Section 4 requires promotion of audience sensibility and empowerment, including closed captioning.
- Section 4 prohibits the grantee from using its stations or facilities to broadcast:
- obscene or indecent language, speech, act or scene, or
- content that disseminates deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, to the detriment of the public interest,
- content that incites, encourages, or assists in subversive or treasonable acts.
- Section 4 sets public service time as equivalent to a maximum aggregate of ten percent (10%) of paid commercials or advertisements, allocated based on need to the executive, legislative, judiciary, constitutional commissions and international humanitarian organizations duly recognized by statutes.
- Section 4 requires the NTC to increase the public service time in case of extreme emergency or calamity and to issue rules and regulations for this purpose, with effectivity starting upon applicability with other similarly situated broadcast network franchise holders.
Government reserved rights in emergencies
- Section 5 provides that the radio spectrum is a finite resource part of the national patrimony, and its use is a privilege conferred by the State that may be withdrawn any time after due process.
- Section 5 reserves to the President of the Philippines special rights 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,
- temporarily suspend operation of any station or facility in the interest of public safety, security and public welfare, or
- authorize temporary use and operation by any government agency for the grantee’s stations or facilities during the period of operation.
- Section 5 requires due compensation to the grantee for such temporary government use or operation.
Franchise duration and automatic revocation
- Section 6 provides that the franchise is in effect for twenty-five (25) years from the effectivity of this Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled.
- Section 6 deems the franchise ipso facto revoked if the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years.
Content self-regulation and cancellation cause
- Section 7 prohibits the grantee from requiring any previous censorship of speech, play, act or scene, or other matter to be broadcast.
- Section 7 states that if the broadcast constitutes a violation of law or infringement of a private right, the grantee is free from liability, civil or criminal, for that broadcast content.
- Section 7 requires that during any broadcast, the grantee must cut off the airing of speech, play, act, scene, or other matter if:
- it tends to propose and/or incite treason, rebellion or sedition, or
- the language used or the theme is indecent or immoral.
- Section 7 provides that willful failure to cut off prohibited broadcasts constitutes a valid cause for cancellation of the franchise.
Government immunity from accident claims
- Section 8 requires the grantee to 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 its stations.
Employment and training commitments
- Section 9 requires the grantee to create employment opportunities and to allow on-the-job trainings in franchise operations.
- Section 9 requires priority to residents where the principal office is located.
- Section 9 requires compliance with applicable labor standards and allowances under existing labor laws, rules and regulations, and similar issuances.
- Section 9 requires that employment opportunities or jobs created be reflected in the General Information Sheet (GIS) submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission annually.
Restrictions on transfer and ownership changes
- Section 10 prohibits the grantee from selling, leasing, transferring, granting the usufruct of, or assigning the franchise or rights and privileges acquired, and from merging with any other corporation or entity, or transferring the controlling interest—whether simultaneously or contemporaneously—without prior approval of Congress.
- Section 10 requires Congress to be informed of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, assignment, merger, or controlling interest transfer within sixty (60) days after completion of the transaction.
- Section 10 provides that failure to report to Congress renders the franchise ipso facto revoked.
- Section 10 requires any person or entity that acquires the franchise through sale, transfer, or assignment to be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations in the Act.
Dispersal of ownership to citizens
- Section 11 requires the grantee, to encourage public participation in public utilities, to offer Filipino citizens at least thirty percent (30%) (or a higher percentage that may 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.
- Section 11 requires the grantee, in cases where public offer of shares is not applicable, to apply other methods of encouraging public participation by citizens and corporations operating public utilities as allowed by law.
- Section 11 provides that noncompliance renders the franchise ipso facto revoked.
Annual reporting to Congress
- Section 12 requires the grantee to submit an annual report to Congress through the Committee on Legislative Franchise of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Philippine Senate.
- Section 12 requires the report to cover compliance with franchise terms and conditions and operations.
- Section 12 mandates submission on or before April 30 of every year during the term of the franchise.
- Section 12 provides that the reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress is required before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by the NTC.
Fine for failure to report
- Section 13 imposes a fine of Five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working day of noncompliance for failure to submit the requisite annual report to Congress.
- Section 13 requires the fine to be collected by the NTC from the delinquent franchise grantee separate from reportorial penalties imposed by the NTC.
- Section 13 requires the fine to be remitted to the National Treasury.
Equality clause for broadcasting franchises
- Section 14 grants that, except for taxes and customs duties, any advantage, favor, privilege, exemption, or immunity granted under existing franchises, or later granted for radio and/or television broadcasting upon prior review and approval of Congress, shall become part of this franchise.
- Section 14 requires that such advantages be accorded to the grantee immediately and unconditionally.
- Section 14 provides that the equality clause does not affect provisions of broadcasting franchises on territorial coverage, term, or type of service authorized by the franchise.
Amendment, repeal, and nonexclusivity
- Section 15 subjects the franchise to amendment, alteration, or repeal by Congress when the public interest so requires.
- Section 15 provides that the franchise shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges provided.
Separability, repeals, effectivity
- Section 16 provides separability: if any section or provision is held invalid, all other provisions not affected remain valid.
- Section 17 repeals, amends, or modifies all laws, decrees, orders, resolutions, instructions, rules and regulations, and other issuances or parts inconsistent with the Act.
- Section 18 sets effectivity at fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Issuance and dates
- Republic Act No. 11253 is titled “AN ACT EXTENDING FOR ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO ADVANCED MEDIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC., UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8061, ENTITLED ‘AN ACT GRANTING THE ADVANCED MEDIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC., A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES’”.
- Republic Act No. 11253 was approved on SEP 05 2019.
- Republic Act No. 11253 is dated March 30, 2019 and was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on January 21, 2019.
- Republic Act No. 11253 takes effect 15 days after publication under Section 18.