DEC.

29, 2011 DATE

NR # 2632B
REF. NO.

House grants foundation a franchise to operate TV station

The House of Representatives has approved on third reading a bill granting a Filipino Catholic organization a franchise to operate and maintain a television station in the Philippines. House Bill 5492, authored principally by Reps. Amado S. Bagatsing (5th District, Manila) and Marcelino R. Marcy Teodoro (1st District, Marikina City) granted the TV Maria Foundation Philippines, Incorporated, a 25-year franchise to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain TV broadcasting stations in the Philippines. The measure requires the grantee to secure from the National Telecommunications Commission the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction and operation of its stations and not use any frequency in the radio spectrum without having been authorized by the Commission. Under the bill, the grantee shall provide the government adequate public service time to enable it to reach the population on important public issues and assist in the functions of public information and education. The stations are not to be used for the broadcasting of obscene and indecent language, speech, acts or scenes or for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, Bagatsing said. The bill provides that the President of the Philippines shall reserve the right to temporarily take over and operate the stations or facilities of the grantee in time of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity emergency, disaster emergency, disaster or disturbance of peace and order. The bill likewise provides that the State can temporarily suspend the operation of any station or facility in the interest of public safety, security and public welfare, and to authorize the temporary use and operation thereof by any agency of the government. Furthermore, the grantee is not allowed to lease, transfer, sell or assign the franchise or the control without the prior approval of Congress. The radio spectrum is a finite resource that is part of the national patrimony and the use is a privilege conferred upon the grantee by the State and may be withdrawn anytime after due process, Bagatsing said. Under the measure, the grantee shall comply with and be subject to the provisions of a general broadcast policy law, which Congress may hereafter enact. The grantee shall submit an annual report to the Congress of the Philippines on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the franchise and on its operations within sixty days from the end of every month. The House Committee on Legislative Franchises chaired by Rep. Marcelino Teodoro (1 st District, Marikina City) endorsed the bill for plenary approval. (30) jsc