Section 1. Electric light and power franchises. — The
National Assembly may, in its discretion, grant a franchise for
electric light and power, upon prior filing of a written petition by an
interested party together with one or more certificates of public
convenience, issued by the Public Service Commission 1 in accordance
with the Act creating the said Commission, 2 and to this effect, the
following form is prescribed for granting electric light and power
franchises. 3
[Title and enacting clauses]
"SECTION 1. Form of bill. — Subject to the conditions established in this Act,
there is hereby granted to _______________ hereinafter known as the
grantee, (a corporation duly organized under the laws of the Philippine
Islands; and domiciled in the Municipality of ______________, Province
of _____________, Philippine Islands), for a period of ________ years
from the approval of this Act, the right, privilege and authority to
construct, maintain, and operate an electric light, heat, and power,
for sale within the limits of the municipality (or municipalities) of
__________, Province of ___________, Philippine Islands. The grantee
shall further have the right and privilege to install, lay, and
maintain in, along, under, and over all public property of the
municipality (or municipalities), including the public streets and
highways, provincial roads, bridges, and public squares within said
municipality (or municipalities) all necessary apparatus and
appurtenances for the transmission and distribution of electric
current, and to supply, sell, and furnish such current to any
individual, co partnership, private, public or quasi-public
association, corporation, or joint-stock company, within the limits of
said municipality (or municipalities) for insular, provincial,
municipal, domestic, or manufacturing uses or for any other use to
which electricity may be put, and to charge and collect a schedule of
prices and rates for the use of electric current so furnished, which
schedule of prices and rates shall at all times be subject to
regulation by the Public Service Commission 4 or its legal successor.
"SECTION 2. Supply of electric power, heat, and light. — Said grantee shall supply
electric power, and or heat, and or light to any applicant for the same
within fifteen days after the date of his application, in the order of
the date of the application up to the limit of the capacity of the
plant of said grantee, said limit to be determined by the Public
Service Commission 4a or its legal successor in such certificate or
certificates of public necessity and convenience as may be issued by it
as prescribed by section eight of this Act; and should the demand for
electric power, and or heat, and or light at any time increase beyond
the capacity of the plant of said grantee to supply the same, the
capacity of said plant shall be increased by said grantee to such
reasonable extent and within such reasonable time as may be fixed by
the Public Service Commission 5 or its legal successor. If, however,
the point at which the electric power, and or heat, and or light is to
be supplied is more than thirty meters from the lines operated by said
grantee, the latter shall not be obligated to furnish said service,
except upon the receipt of such additional prices and rates as the
Commission, 6 or its legal successor, may determine to be just and
reasonable.
"SECTION 3. The
grantee hereby agrees to compensate the municipality (or
municipalities) for any damage to its (or their) property by reason of
the construction under this franchise or of any neglect or omission to
keep the said poles, wires and other property in a safe condition, and
to be responsible for any damage to individuals, co partnerships,
private, or quasi-public associations, corporations, or stock-joint
companies, arising out of such fault, neglect, or negligence.
"SECTION 4. Apparatus and appurtenances. — All
apparatus and appurtenances used by the grantee shall be modern, safe,
and first class in every respect (all wires shall be carefully
connected, fastened, and insulated) and the grantee shall, whenever the
Public Service Commission 7 or its legal successor shall determine that
the public interest reasonably requires it, place said wires in
underground pipes or conduits at its own expense, and without any cost
or prejudice to the municipality (or municipalities). The poles erected
by the grantee shall be of such a height as to maintain the wires
stretched on the same at a distance of at least twenty feet above the
level of the ground, and shall be of such appearance as not to
disfigure the streets, and shall be placed with due regard for the
public safety, in accordance with a plan previously approved by the
Public Service Commission 8 after hearing the municipal authorities
concerned.
"SECTION 5. Change location of poles, on underground
conduits. — Whenever it shall, in the opinion of the Public Service
Commission 9 or its legal successor, become necessary in the public
interest or convenience, to change the location of the grantee's poles,
underground pipes or conduits, such change shall be made without delay
by the grantee, his (its) successors or assigns, at the grantee's
expense, and the same shall be placed where directed by the Public
Service Commission 10 after hearing the proper municipal authorities.
"SECTION 6. Removal of sidewalks or excavations. — Whenever it shall be necessary
in the erection of said poles, or in the placing of said wires in
underground pipes or conduits, to take up any portion of the sidewalks
or dig up the ground near the sidewalks or corners of the public
streets or thoroughfares, the grantee shall, after said poles or
underground pipes or conduits are constructed, replaced without delay
said sidewalks and other property in a proper manner, removing from the
same all rubbish, dirt, refuse, or other material which may have been
placed there, taken up or dug up in the erection of said poles,
underground pipes or conduits, leaving all property in as good
condition as before the work was done.
"SECTION 7. Removal of poles or wires. — Whenever any
individual, co partnership, private, public or quasi-public
association, corporation, or joint-stock company has lawfully obtained
permission to use any of the public property of said municipality (or
municipalities), including the public streets and highways, provincial
roads, bridges, and public squares, for any cause whatsoever, making it
necessary to raise or remove any of said poles and or electric wires
and/or pipes, which may hinder or obstruct the prosecution of said
work, the said grantee, upon written notice by the municipal council of
said municipality, served upon the grantee in person or upon its duly
authorized agent at least forty-eight hours in advance, shall raise or
remove any of its poles and/or wires and/or conduits and/or pipes which
might hinder or obstruct the prosecution of said work so as to allow
the free and unobstructed prosecution of said work. The notice shall be
in the form of a duly adopted resolution of the municipal council
concerned, served upon the grantee or his (its) duly authorized agent
by a person competent to testify in a civil action. The individual, co
partnership, private, public or quasi-public association, corporation,
or joint-stock company at whose request the raising or removing of said
poles and/or electric wires and/or conduits and/or pipes has been done
shall pay one-half of the actual cost thereof to the grantee, and also
one-half of the actual cost of their replacement. In the case of the
refusal or failure of the grantee to comply with such notice, the
Public Service Commission 11 after hearing the municipal authorities
concerned, shall order such poles and/or electric wires and/or conduits
and/or pipes raised or removed at the sole expense of said grantee.
"SECTION 8. The
grantee shall not exercise any rights or privileges under this
franchise, nor commence any construction thereunder, unless and until
the grantee shall first file with the Public Service Commission 12
within one hundred and twenty days from the date of the approval of
this Act:
"(1) His (its) written acceptance of the terms and
provisions of this Act;
"(2) Acceptance — His (its) written acceptance of the
terms and conditions of the first certificate or certificates of
necessity and convenience required by law for the granting of this
franchise and issued by the Public Service Commission, 13 of the form
and character provided for in Act Numbered Three thousand one hundred
and eight, 14 as amended.
"(3) Deposits in cash or negotiable bonds. — A
document or documents evidencing receipt by the Insular Treasurer, 15
of the deposit or deposits required by law, of not less than one
thousand pesos Philippine currency, or negotiable bonds approved by the
Public Service Commission 16 for each certificate of public necessity
and convenience as an earnest of good faith and a guaranty that the
grantee will complete the work within the period fixed by the
Commission. 17
Nullity of certificates; Forfeiture of deposits — "If the grantee shall
not commence the furnishing of electric current in any municipality (or
municipalities) referred to in any certificate or certificates of
public necessity and convenience, obtained and filed as herein provided
within such period as the Public Service Commission 18 or its legal
successor shall have fixed, unless prevented by act of God or force
majeure, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil commotion
or other cause beyond his (its) control, said commission or its legal
successor may in its discretion declare such certificate or
certificates to be null and void, and the deposit or deposits made by
the grantee forfeited to such municipality as liquidated damages and
not as a penalty" 19
"SECTION 9. Construction or works. — After compliance with the requirements of the
next preceding section, the Public Service Commission 20 or its legal
successor, by proper order or writ, shall authorize the construction of
necessary work for the purposes of this franchise, within a reasonable
time to be determined by the said Commission. 21
Violation — "Upon determination by the Public Service Commission 22 or
its legal successor after a hearing upon reasonable written notice to
the grantee that the grantee has violated any of the provisions of this
section as to the commencement and/or completion of the work authorized
by a certificate or certificates of the Public Service Commission 23 or
its legal successor, the said Commission 24 or its legal successor
shall declare the bond or bonds forfeited as liquidated damages and not
as a penalty to the municipality in which the failure to perform
occurred. If the failure occurred in more than one municipality, the
Public Service Commission 25 or its legal successor shall determine the
portion which each municipality shall receive. The Public Service
Commission 26 or its legal successor shall order the return of the
deposit required by section eight hereof, as amended, together with any
interest or dividends thereon received by the Insular Treasurer, 27 to
the grantee upon the satisfactory completion of any work authorized by
its certificate or certificates of public necessity, in accordance with
the terms and conditions of the certificate or certificates obtained,
and the Insular Treasurer 28 shall return said deposit to the grantee
together with said interest and/or dividends immediately upon
presentation to him of a certified copy of such order of the Public
Service Commission 29 or its legal successors. 30
"SECTION 10. Taxation. — The grantee shall pay the same taxes as are now or may
hereafter be required by law from other individuals, co partnerships,
private, public or quasi-public associations, corporations, or
joint-stock companies, on his (its) real estate, buildings, plants,
machinery, and other personal property, except property declared exempt
in this section. In consideration of the franchise and rights hereby
granted, the grantee shall pay into the municipal treasury of the (of
each) municipality in which it is supplying electric current to the
public under this franchise, a tax equal to two per centum of the gross
earnings from electric current sold or supplied under this franchise in
said (each said) municipality. Said tax shall be due and payable
quarterly and shall be in lieu of any and all taxes of any kind, nature
or description levied, established, or collected by any authority
whatsoever, municipal, provincial, or insular, 31 now or in the future,
on its poles, wires, insulators, switches, transformers and structures,
installations, conductors, and accessories, placed in and over and
under all public property, including public streets and highways,
provincial roads, bridges and public squares, and on its franchise,
rights, privileges, receipts, revenues and profits, from which taxes
the grantee is hereby expressly exempted. 32
"SECTION 11. Use of poles by municipality. — The
municipality (or municipalities) shall have the privilege, without
compensation, for and during the time the wires of the grantee are
maintained on poles of using the said poles of the grantee for the
purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating a police telephone
and fire alarm system, but the wires of such police telephone or fire
alarm system shall be placed and stretched in such manner as to cause
no interference with or damage to the wires of the electric service of
the grantee. The municipality (or any of the municipalities) above
specified which makes use of the aforesaid privilege shall be liable to
the grantee for any damage or liability arising from the installation,
maintenance or operation of said police telephone or fire alarm system.
"SECTION 12. Limitations. — This franchise is granted subject to the provisions of
Act Numbered Three thousand one hundred and eight, 33 as amended, and
with the understanding and upon the condition that it shall be subject
to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the National Assembly or by the
Congress of the United States 34 and that it shall be subject in all
respects to the limitations upon corporations and the granting of
franchises contained in the Constitution of the Philippines, and also
subject to the provisions of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and
fifty-nine of the Philippine Legislature, as amended. " 35
"SECTION 13. Reversion. — All lands or right of use
or occupation of lands hereby granted by the insular, 36 provincial, or
municipal governments shall upon the termination, revocation or repeal
of this franchise, revert to the respective insular, 37 provincial, or
municipal governments which were the owners thereof or from which said
lands or rights were derived.
"SECTION 14. Inspection of books, records and
accounts. — The books, records and accounts of the grantee shall always
be open to the inspection of the provincial treasurer or his authorized
representative, and it shall be the duty of the grantee to submit to
the provincial treasurer quarterly reports in duplicate showing the
gross receipts for the quarter past, one of which shall be forwarded by
the provincial treasurer to the Insular Auditor, 38 who shall keep the
same on file.
"SECTION 15. Sales, lease, etc. — The grantee, with the approval of the Philippine
Legislature, 39 first had, may sell, lease, grant, convey, assign, give
in usufruct, or transfer this franchise and all property and rights
acquired thereunder to any individual, co partnership, private, public
or quasi-public association, corporation, or joint-stock company
competent to operate the business hereby authorized, but transfer of
title to the franchise or any right of ownership or interest acquired
under such sale, lease, grant, conveyance, assignment, gift in usufruct
or transfer shall not be effective even after such approval shall have
been obtained until there shall have been filed in the office of the
Public Service Commission 40 or its legal successor an agreement in
writing by which the individual, co partnership, private, public or
quasi-public association, corporation, or joint-stock company in whose
favor such sale, lease, grant, conveyance, assignment, gift in
usufruct, or transfer is made, shall be firmly bound to comply with all
the terms and conditions imposed upon the grantee by this franchise and
by any and all certificates of public necessity and convenience
theretofore issued by Public Service Commission 41 or its legal
successor, and to accept the same subject to all existing terms and
conditions.
"SECTION 16. Forfeiture. — The Public Service
Commission 42 or its legal successor shall have power, after a
reasonable written notice to the grantee and a hearing of the
interested parties, to declare the forfeiture of this franchise and all
rights inherent in the same for failure on the part of the grantee to
comply with any of the terms and conditions thereof, unless such
failure shall have been directly and primarily caused by the act of
God, force majeure, usurped right, uprising or other cause beyond the
grantee's control Against such declaration of forfeiture by the Public
Service Commission 43 or its legal successor, the grantee may apply for
the remedies provided in sections twenty-eight and thirty-five of Act
Numbered Thirty-one hundred and eight, 44 as amended. The remedy
provided herein shall not be a bar to any other remedy provided by
existing laws for the forfeiture of this franchise.
"SECTION 17. Terms more favorable that will form part of franchise. — In the event
of any competing individual, association of persons or corporation
receiving either a franchise or permission from the Government of the
Philippine Islands or from any province, city, or municipality thereof,
to conduct a similar business in all or any substantial portion of the
territory covered by this franchise to that of the grantee, in which
franchise or permission there shall be any term or terms more favorable
than those herein granted or tending to place the herein grantee at any
disadvantage, then such term or terms shall ipso facto become a part of
the terms hereof and shall operate equally in favor of the grantee as
in the case of said competing individual, association of persons, or
corporations."
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Footnotes
* As amended
by CA 132.
1. Now
Board of Energy.
2. Id.
3. Words in bold in the text above are
amendments introduced by CA 132, section 1, approved November 6, 1936.
Statutory History of section 1:
Original text — The original
provisions of section 1, being similar to
the amended provisions supra, except for the words in bold, are not
reproduced here.
4. Now
Board of Energy.
4a. Id.
5. Id.
6. Id.
7. Id.
8. Id.
9. Id.
10. Id.
11. Id.
12. Id.
13. Id.
14. See CA
146.
15. Now
National Treasurer.
16. Now Board
of Energy.
17. Id.
18. Id.
19. Words in
bold in the text above are amendments
introduced by CA 132, section 2, approved November 6, 1936.
Statutory History of section 8:
Original text —
"Section 8. [if
the grantee does not file the proper application for a certificate or
certificates of public necessity and convenience with the Public
Service Commission within ninety days from the date of approval of this
Act, this franchise shall become null and void.]
"The grantee shall not exercise any rights or privileges under this
franchise nor commence any construction thereunder unless and until the
grantee shall first file with the Public Service Commission within one
hundred and twenty days from the date of [issuance by the Public
Service Commission of the said first certificate or certificates of
public necessity and convenience:]
"(1) His (its) written acceptance of the terms and
provisions of this Act; [together with]
(2) His (its) written acceptance of the terms and
conditions of the first certificate or certificates of necessity and
convenience issued by the Public Service Commission, of the form and
character provided for in Act Numbered Three thousand one hundred and
eight, as amended, [specially authorizing said construction; together
with]
"(3)
A document
or documents evidencing receipt [of the deposit or deposits required by
section 9 of this Act] by the Insular Treasurer.
["The Public Service Commission or its legal successor shall have power
to issue certificates of public necessity and convenience whenever it
shall, after due hearing, determine that such construction or the
exercise of the rights or privileges under this franchise is necessary
and proper for the public convenience and properly conserves the public
interests, and the Commission or its legal successor shall have the
power in so acting to impose all such conditions as to construction,
equipment, maintenance or operation of the service as the public
convenience and interests may reasonably require.]
"If the grantee shall not commence the furnishing of electric current
in any municipality (or municipalities) referred to in any certificate
or certificates of public necessity and convenience obtained and filed
as herein provided within such period as the Public Service Commission
or its legal successor shall have fixed, unless prevented by Act of God
or force majeure, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil
commotion or other cause beyond his (its) control, said Commission or
its legal successor may in its discretion declare such certificate or
certificates to be null and void, and the deposit or deposits made by
the grantee [as hereinafter provided in section 9] forfeited to such
municipality as liquidated damages and not as a penalty. (Ed. Note:
Words in brackets were deleted in CA 132, supra.)
20. Now Board
of Energy.
21. Id.
22. Id.
23. Id.
24. Id.
25. Id.
26. Id.
27. Now
National Treasurer.
28. Id.
29. Now Board
of Energy.
30. Words in
bold in the text above are amendments
introduced by CA 132, section 3, approved November 6, 1936.
Statutory History of section 9:
Original text —
Section 9. [For every certificate of public necessity
and convenience obtained by him (it), the grantee shall be required by
the Public Service Commission or its legal successor to make a deposit
of not less than one thousand pesos, Philippine currency, or negotiable
bonds of the United States or other securities approved by the Public
Service Commission or its legal successor of a face value of not less
than one thousand pesos, Philippine currency, such deposit to be made
in the Insular Treasury, within a period to be fixed by the Public
Service Commission or its legal successor as an earnest of good faith
and a guaranty that the grantee will begin and complete the work within
the period fixed by the Commission or its legal successor, and be
completely provided with the necessary equipment therefor, and ready to
begin operation of the electric light, heat, and power service in the
municipality or municipalities concerned within the period fixed by the
Public Service Commission or its legal successor as herein provided.]
Upon determination by the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor after a hearing upon reasonable written notice to the grantee
that the grantee has violated any of the provisions of this section as
to the commencement and or completion of the work authorized by a
certificate or certificates of the Public Service Commission or its
legal successor the said Commission or its legal successor shall
declare the bond or bonds forfeited as liquidated damages and not as a
penalty to the municipality in which the failure to perform occurred.
If the failure occurred in more than one municipality, the Public
Service Commission or its legal successor shall determine the portion
which each municipality shall receive. The Public Service Commission or
its legal successor shall order the return of the deposit [herein]
required, together with any interest or dividends thereon received by
the Insular Treasurer, to the grantee upon the satisfactory completion
of any work authorized by its certificate or certificates of public
necessity, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the
certificate or certificates obtained, and the Insular Treasurer shall
return said deposit to the grantee together with said interest and or
dividends immediately upon presentation to him of a certified copy of
such order of the Public Service Commission or its legal successor.
(Ed. Note: Words in brackets were deleted in CA 132, supra.)
31. Now
National.
32. See PD
1158.
33. See CA
146.
34. Reference
to U.S. Congress is now obsolete.
35. Words in
bold in the text above are amendments
introduced by CA 132, section 4, approved November 6, 1936.
Statutory History of section 12:
Original text —
Section 12. This franchise is granted subject to the
provisions of Act Three thousand one hundred eight, as amended, and
with the understanding and upon the condition that it shall be subject
to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the United
States [as provided in section twenty-eight of the Act of Congress
approved August twenty-nine, nineteen hundred and sixteen, entitled "An
Act to declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the
future political status of the people of the Philippine Islands, and to
provide a more autonomous government for those islands,"] and that it
shall be subject, in all respects to the limitations upon corporations
and the granting of franchises contained in [said Act of Congress and
in Acts of Congress supplemental thereto or amendatory thereof,
including Public Act Numbered Eight hundred and eighty-five of the
Seventieth Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act to approve,
ratify, and confirm an Act of the Philippine Legislature entitled: An
Act amending the Corporation Law, Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and
fifty-nine, as amended, and for other purposes,' enacted November 8,
1928, approved by the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands
December 3, 1928";] and also subject to the provisions of Act Numbered
Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine of the Philippine Legislature, as
amended. (Ed. Note: Words in brackets were deleted in CA 132, supra.)
36. Now
National.
37. Id.
38. Now
Commission on Audit.
39. Now
National Assembly.
40. Now Board
of Energy.
41. Id.
42. Id.
43. Id.
44. See CA
146.
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