Franchise for Cebu Broadcasting Co. Radio/TV

Section 2 requires the grantee’s existing and future stations or facilities to be constructed and operated to result in minimum interference on wavelengths or frequencies of other existing stations.
Section 2 prohibits operating in a way that diminishes the grantee’s own right to use its selected wavelengths or frequencies.
Section 2 requires the technical approach to maximize rendition of the grantee’s services and/or the availability of those services.

Section 3 requires the grantee to secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) the appropriate permits and licenses for its stations.
Section 3 prohibits using any frequency in the radio and television spectrum without NTC authorization.
Section 3 directs that the NTC shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of authority.

Section 4 requires the grantee to provide reasonable public service time to enable the government, through the stations, to reach the population on important public issues.
Section 4 requires the grantee to provide sound and balanced programming at all times.
Section 4 requires promotion of public participation, including community programming, and assistance in functions of public information and education.
Section 4 requires conformity with the ethics of honest enterprise.
Section 4 prohibits using the stations to broadcast:
- obscene and indecent language, speech, act, or scene, or
- the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation to the detriment of the public interest, or
- content that incite, encourage, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.

Section 5 reserves to the President of the Philippines a special right, in times of rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace and order, to:
- temporarily take over and operate the stations, or
- temporarily suspend operation of any station for public safety, security, and public welfare, or
- authorize temporary use and operation by any government agency.
Section 5 requires due compensation to the grantee for station use during the period of such government operation.

Section 6 provides that the franchise term is twenty-five (25) years from the date of approval of this Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled.
Section 6 provides automatic loss: if the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years, the franchise is deemed ipso facto revoked.

Section 7 requires written acceptance of the franchise within sixty (60) days after approval of the Act.
Section 7 provides that upon giving acceptance, the grantee must exercise the privileges granted under the Act.
Section 7 provides that nonacceptance renders the franchise void.

Section 8 makes the grantee, successors, or assigns liable to pay the same taxes on real estate, buildings, and personal property exclusive of this franchise as other persons or corporations are required to pay under law.
Section 8 imposes a franchise tax equivalent to three percent (3%) of all gross receipts of the radio/television business transacted under the franchise.
Section 8 states that the three percent (3%) franchise tax is in lieu of all taxes on the franchise or earnings thereof.
Section 8 preserves income tax liability under Title 11 of the National Internal Revenue Code, pursuant to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 72, until that enactment is amended or repealed.
Section 8 requires filing of tax returns and payment to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or duly authorized representative in accordance with the National Internal Revenue Code, and provides that the return is subject to audit by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Section 9 requires the grantee to make a public offering through the stock exchanges of at least thirty percent (30%) of its common stock within three (3) years from the date of effectivity of the Act.
Section 9 limits ownership: no single person or entity may own more than five percent (5%) of the stock offerings.

Section 10 prohibits the grantee from requiring any previous censorship of any speech, play, act, scene, or other matter broadcast and/or telecast from its stations.
Section 10 requires the grantee, during any broadcast and/or telecast, to cut off from the air any speech, play, act, scene, or other matter being broadcast and/or telecast if it tends to:
- propose and/or incite treason, rebellion, or sedition, or
- use language or present a theme that is indecent or immoral.
Section 10 provides that a willful failure to cut off as required constitutes a valid cause for cancellation of this franchise.

Section 11 requires the grantee to hold harmless the national, provincial, and municipal governments from all claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising from accidents or injuries—whether to property or persons—caused by the construction or operation of the stations.

Section 12 prohibits the grantee from leasing, transferring, granting the usufruct of, selling, or assigning the franchise or its rights and privileges.
Section 12 prohibits transferring control of ownership to any person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity without approval of the Congress of the Philippines.
Section 12 prohibits merging with any corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines.
Section 12 requires that any person or entity receiving the franchise through sale, transfer, or assignment, or receiving transferred ownership control, is subject to all the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of the Act.

Section 13 provides that if any section or provision is held invalid, the remaining sections or provisions remain valid.
Section 14 requires compliance with and subjection to a general broadcast policy law that Congress may hereafter enact.
Section 15 subjects the franchise to amendment, alteration, or repeal by Congress whenever the public interest requires.
Section 15 states the franchise is not to be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges provided.

Section 16 provides that the Act takes effect fifteen (15) days from its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
The Act is Approved: March 30, 1995.