Radio Stations Regulation Act 1931

Permits, licenses, and renewal rules

Section 2 bars construction or installation of any station from being begun unless a permit has been granted by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.
Section 2 bars operation of any station except under and in accordance with a license issued by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.
Section 2 requires the license to state the dates between which the station may be operated.
Section 2 requires a licensee seeking renewal to submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce and Communications at least two months before the expiration date of the license to be renewed.
Section 2 directs the Secretary of Commerce and Communications to determine the period for each license, but the law limits each license to no longer than three years.

Secretary’s regulatory powers and procedures

Section 3 empowers the Secretary of Commerce and Communications to regulate the establishment, use, and operation of all radio stations and all forms of radio communications and transmissions within the Philippine Islands, and to issue necessary rules and regulations.
Section 3 requires classification of radio stations and prescription of the nature of service for each class and station within each class.
Section 3 requires assignment of call letters and assignment of frequencies for each station licensed by the Secretary and for each station established by virtue of a legislative franchise, including specification of stations to which each frequency may be used.
Section 3 directs the Secretary to make rules to prevent and eliminate interference and to carry out the Act and the provisions of International Radio Regulations.
Section 3 prohibits changes in the frequencies or authorized power, or in the character of omitted signals, or in the type of power supply, or in the hours of operation of any licensed station without first giving the station licensee a hearing.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary to establish areas or zones to be served by any station.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary to make special rules for radio stations engaging in chain broadcasting.
Section 3 authorizes general rules requiring stations to keep records of traffic handled, distress, frequency watches, programs, transmission of energy, communications, or signs.
Section 3 authorizes investigations and hearings, including the power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and compel production of books, logs, documents, and papers.
Section 3 authorizes rules for radio training schools, supervision of course and method of instruction, and refusal to admit to examinations for radio operators’ licenses graduates of any radio school not complying with the regulations.
Section 3 requires the Secretary to prescribe rates of operators’ pay to the Government for inspection of stations for licensing of stations, examination of operators, licensing of operators, renewal of station operator licenses, and other services that may be rendered.
Section 3 empowers the Secretary to approve or disapprove applications for construction, installation, establishment, or operation of a radio station.
Section 3 empowers the Secretary to approve or disapprove applications for renewal of station or operator licenses, but renewal cannot be disapproved without giving the licensee a hearing.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary, at his discretion, to bring criminal actions against violators, or to suspend or revoke station or operator licenses, or refuse to renew, or reprimand and warn offenders.
Section 3 subjects the location of any station and the power and kind/type of apparatus to be used to the Secretary’s approval.
Section 3 authorizes rules for handling SOS messages and distress traffic, with the requirement that such rules do not conflict with International Radio Regulations.

Transfer limits and foreign ownership restrictions

Section 4 prohibits transfer of a radio station license to any person, firm, company, association, or corporation without express authority of the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.
Section 4 prohibits granting or transferring a license to any person who is not a citizen of the United States of America or of the Philippine Islands.
Section 4 prohibits granting or transferring a license to any firm or company not incorporated under the laws of the Philippine Islands or of a state or territory of the United States of America.
Section 4 prohibits granting or transferring a license to any company or corporation in which any alien is employed as officer or director.
Section 4 prohibits granting or transferring a license to any company or corporation where 20% of capital stock may be voted by aliens or their representatives, or by a foreign government or its representatives, or by any company, corporation, or association organized under the laws of a foreign country.

Non-exclusivity of station privileges

Section 5 provides that privileges granted in any station license shall not be exclusive.

Wartime and emergency closures

Section 6 authorizes the President of the United States of America or the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, in time of war, public peril, calamity, or disaster, to cause the closing of any radio station in the Philippine Islands.
Section 6 authorizes the President or Governor-General to authorize temporary use or possession of a radio station by any department of the Government upon just compensation to the owners.

Confidentiality of messages and interception bans

Section 7 prohibits a person to whom or through whom a message has been submitted for transmission from willfully publishing or divulging the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the message to any unauthorized person.
Section 7 prohibits any person not authorized by the sender or the addressee from intercepting any message or communication and willfully divulging or publishing the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of an intercepted message or communication to any person.
Section 7 prohibits any person not entitled to receive any message or communication from receiving it and using it or any information in it for the person’s own benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto.
Section 7 prohibits a person who has received an intercepted message or communication or who has become acquainted with its contents, knowing the information was obtained through interception, from divulging or publishing the contents or from using the information for the person’s own benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto.
Section 7 exempts from these rules the transmitting, receiving, divulging, publishing, or utilizing the contents of any message or communication broadcasted or transmitted by amateurs or others for the use of the general public, or relating to ships in distress.

Administrative organization and delegated enforcement

Section 8 authorizes the creation of a Radio Regulation Section, Division, or Office to carry out the Act’s provisions and the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.
Section 8 authorizes temporary delegation of the duties conferred on the Secretary and enforcement of regulations to any bureau or office under the Secretary’s department, subject to the Secretary’s general supervision and control.

Coverage and exemptions for governments and mobiles

Section 9 excludes from the Act radio stations of the United States Government and those of the Philippine Government.
Section 9 exempts foreign mobile stations temporarily located within the Philippine Islands.
Section 9 requires exempt foreign mobile stations to be subject to the provisions of the International Radiotelegraph Regulations.

Vessels’ radio apparatus rules and transfer of powers

Section 10 transfers to the Secretary of Commerce and Communications the powers vested in and duties imposed upon the Director of Posts by Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six.
Section 10 empowers the Secretary to include in the general radio regulations under the Act regulations governing radio apparatus compulsory required on vessels of Philippine registry by Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six, even if different from those specifically provided in Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six.
Section 10 requires that such regulations are not inconsistent with the provisions of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
Section 10 preserves Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six provisions that make radio apparatus installation compulsory on certain vessels and penalize violations thereof.

Repeal and preservation of vested rights

Section 11 repeals Act Numbered Thirty-two hundred and seventy-five, entitled “An Act to amend article one of chapter fifty-two and section twenty-seven hundred and fifty-seven of the Administrative Code, providing for effective radio control.”
Section 11 preserves acts done, rights accrued, and any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any criminal or civil cause prior to the repeal.

Criminal penalties and fines

Section 12 imposes criminal punishment for violations of any mandatory or prohibitory provision of the Act, mandatory or prohibitory provisions of the regulations prescribed by the Secretary, or mandatory or prohibitory provisions of the International Radio Regulations.
Section 12 provides that, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, punishment is a fine of not more than three hundred pesos or imprisonment of not more than three months, or both, for each and every offense.
Section 13 imposes a fine on any firm, company, corporation, or association that fails or refuses to observe or violates any provision of the Act, provisions of regulations prescribed by the Secretary, or provisions of the International Radio Regulations.
Section 13 provides that the fine is not more than one thousand pesos for each and every offense.

Effectivity timeline

Section 14 states that the Act takes effect three months after approval.
The Act was approved on November 11, 1931.